Flames and Steel
by Infallible95
Summary: Natsu and his brother, Gray, are attending a new school called "Fairy Tail High". Follow them as they go through their Junior and Senior year at the new high school, and as they have fun times and maybe even fall in love? AU with the pairings being NaZa, Gruvia, and maybe LucyxOC. Also characters may be a little OCC. Rated T for language and maybe gore. R&R!
1. Prologue

**Flames and Steel**

Natsu awoke with a start as his alarm started blaring in his ears. He quickly rolled over and slammed his fist on the alarm clock, which made it stop, whether because he hit the snooze button or he broke it doesn't matter to Natsu, because all that mattered was that the sound had stopped. Natsu laid still for a moment then slowly dragged his feet from the warmth of his covers. As Natsu sat there on his bed, staring blankly at the wall, only one thought was going through his head. '_School_...' Just then, one of the maids that worked for his father knocked on the door and walked into the room, making sure that Natsu was up.

She glanced at the zombie looking form on the bed, and a small smile formed on her face. "I'm glad you are up, young Master! Breakfast will be ready in about 15 minutes, plenty of time to take a shower and get dressed. Now if you may excuse me, I'm going to go make sure that your brother is awake." Natsu merely grunted as an answer as he got out of bed and walked to the bathroom in his room.

Natsu walked over to the shower and turned to nozzle to hot. 'Better use the shower quickly, so I can get a good amount of hot water before idiot Gray starts to use the shower.' Although he wasn't really worried about losing the hot water, since Gray liked to take cold-water showers in the morning. He had said to Natsu when asked why, "Wakes me up in the morning, Flame-brain!" Natsu had stared at him incredulously, before commenting, "Whatever, I don't even care. If you want to be a popsicle in the morning, be my guest! Guess that explains your stupidity, you are stupid because your brain is frozen!" Natsu said the last part over his shoulder as he walked out of Gray's room, which caused him to get tackled from the back by Gray causing a brawl between the two of them to start.

As he got in the shower and started to wash himself, he started to think of the new school he was going to attend this year with Gray. It was a nice public school that their father, Igneel Dragneel, had found after they were kicked out of their old school. He had told them its name a few days before, and its name was Fairy Tail High. Natsu and Gray had looked at each other in confusion at it's weird name, but they both had shrugged that off and looked through the information sheet that Igneel had given them about the school. It had seemed like quiet and nice school, much more relaxed than the uppity private school they had been attending, and gotten kicked out of, before. They both had been kicked out of the school due to what the school had called "Disrupting School Property", which really was bullshit to both of them because they had fought off school bullies that had been picking on some new freshmen. That would have been a good thing, if the leader of the group of bullies wasn't the school principal's son. So since his father was the principal, and believed that his child was an angel and the Natsu and Gray had attacked them out of nowhere, they had been kicked out of the school.

Natsu shook his head clear of those thoughts and got out of the shower to get dressed. He walked into his huge closet to look for something to wear, and found it quickly since the school had a dress code. The school dress code for men was a white polo shirt, a choice of white long sleeved undershirt for the cold days, and a choice between grey pants or shorts. That done he walked down stairs towards the delicious smells of pancakes and bacon that was wafting out of the kitchen. As he neared the door to the kitchen, the smell was so overpowering that he was almost drooling in anticipation for the breakfast. He opened the door and walked into the kitchen, quickly making his way over to his seat. He smiled and said his good mornings to the maids and servants that he passed on his way to the seats; he liked to be friendly to the servants since they were always around to help out with anything he needed. As he sat down, a maid brought over a glass of orange juice and the days newspaper to tide him over until the pancakes and bacon were ready. Natsu smiled up at the maid and nodded his appreciation, then picked up the newspaper to read what was going on in the world. It was a habit that his father had instilled into him, and it was a helpful habit since it was a good idea to know what was going on in the world.

The news headline read in bold letter "**Serial Killer Kills Another Victim in Mace, Sheriff Tells People to Watch Out and Be Careful at Night.**" Natsu shakes his head in disgust; he couldn't understand why anyone would have the urge to kill someone like that. Anyone with those thoughts deserves to rot in jail for the rest of their lives. Also he took note of the fact that Mace was just a town or two over

'_Hopefully he doesn't come to our town, this town doesn't need trouble like that._' Natsu then hears the door to the kitchen open, and sees Gray walk in with the same look of anticipation for the meal as Natsu had.

Natsu smirked at Gray. "Good Morning, ready for school today?" Natsu knew that out of the two of them, Gray was the one who hated school the most. Almost every morning since Natsu can remember, Gray has always made a comment about having to wake up so early up for school, and that school seems like a huge waste of time.

Gray glanced at Natsu before sitting down in his seat and saying with a cheery tone "Actually, I'm kind of looking forward to going to this new school. Seems like a nice place and it is definitely going to be a lot more relaxing than our old school." Natsu was a bit surprised at his comment, but also know what Gray meant. Their old school was very stuck up, and you had a very strict dress code. Women had to have their hair in a pigtail, with their bangs out of their faces, and men had to have short cut hair with no facial hair. At least at the new school, you didn't have to wear pants everyday, so on hot days you can wear shorts.

A few minutes longer of them reading the news waiting for breakfast, the cook and some servants brought breakfast to the table. Natsu and Gray dug into the food, and the servants sweat dropped as they began to have a competition of who was going to eat more bacon. After breakfast, Natsu and Gray raced up the stairs back to their rooms to get ready for school. They had about a 15 minutes before they had to leave, so he got out his guitar to see if he could get a tune going for another song for his band. He also started thinking about how their music career started.

Natsu and Gray had always been into music, since they were young. Both of them, if asked, would say that the reason for this was that Natsu's step-mom (but he considers her his real mom) and Gray's mother, Ur Dragneel, has always had this passion for music. Whenever she would sit down to read or just relax, she would have music playing in the background. When Natsu and Gray asked her about this, she told them that the reason was because depending on her mood, she would play a type of music the relaxed her, such as jazz, classical, or instrumental. So knowing this, they both decided to make "their own band" that they could mess around with music, it first just started off as a game that they could entertain their mother with. As they grew older though, they both started to really get into the game of "Band", with Gray as the singer and Natsu as the guitarist. Gray started taking singing lessons, that his mother gladly paid for, and Natsu started to take guitar lessons which his mother also gladly payed for.

Soon after that, they were coming up with their own music and tunes, while practicing them in the garage. What really kick started their music career was when their mother had them play for a meeting that their father was having for work. They got up there and started playing what they knew best, rock, and little did they know was that one of the people there was a CEO of a recording studio. After they were finished with the party, the CEO came up to Natsu and Gray's parents and asked if they could come in and play for the recording studio. Igneel and Ur gladly agreed to it, and Natsu and Grey's band "**Ice Cold Dragon**" was an instant hit with the age group 6-18.

This was at the start of their middle school year, and as they grew older their fan base also grew, with the age group getting older as their voices and songs got more mature. As of right now their music career is a huge success and they plan on continuing until they grow bored of it.

Natsu smirked while thinking of Gray. '_Even if he isn't my brother by blood, we are a great team and as close as real siblings are._' Natsu's real mother had died when Natsu was one year old, and she died of a rare disease that the doctors at all the hospitals they visited couldn't figure out. Igneel had done all he could to try and save her, but nothing could be found out about the disease and she had died. Igneel had been heartbroken at her death, but stayed strong for his son and continued on working through his grief.

Igneel had thought that he would never find love again, but that changed one night as he was hosting a party for his business, Deloitte. Igneel had always been poor his whole life, but he worked hard in school and went to college to get his business degree. He then started up a consulting firm called Deloitte, and dedicated all his time to making his company succeed. He met his first wife, Michelle, at a cafe he used to go to before work. They had hit it off right away and he divided his time between Deloitte and Michelle, and they eventually got married.

Anyways, at this party for his company, that was when he first saw a woman whose beauty rivaled his late wife's. Igneel felt something stir in his heart, and he couldn't keep his eyes off of her. He eventually walked up to her and started to talk with her, and got to know her more. He found out that she divorced her husband before because he was a scumbag who was just taking advantage of her, and that she had a son that was the same age as Natsu. This was the start of their relationship, as they starting talking to each other constantly after the party. This eventually lead them to start dating, and Natsu and Gray started to see each other more often and started to play with each other, quickly becoming best friends.

When Igneel and Ur got married, Natsu and Gray were already like brothers and Natsu already looked at Ur like a real mother. Igneel told Natsu about his real mother, and he loves both Michelle and Ur as his mothers. Natsu smiled as he thought of his mother, wishing she was there so he could talk with her, but content with the thought that she was watching him from heaven.

Natsu looked up as he heard a knock on the door, and saw Igneel poke his head through the door.

"You ready to head to school, son?"

Natsu nodded. "Yeah" He picked up his backpack and walked out of the house and into the garage with Gray, both of them saying good bye to Igneel and the servants. Natsu glanced at Gray and grinned "I call driving to school today!" Gray sighed.

"Fine, then I get to drive tomorrow." Gray glanced around the garage "We taking the Porsche 911 or the BMW to school today?"

Natsu crossed his arms in thought. "Lets take the BMW, kind of want to be under the radar as we scope out the place."

Gray nodded in agreement and they walked over to the car, with Natsu grabbing the keys where they were hanging on the wall as they passed by it. Natsu got into the drivers seat and threw his backpack into the backseat while Gray got into the passenger's seat and did the same with his backpack.

Natsu turned the car on and glanced at Gray, a big grin on his face. "Ya ready for a new school year?"

Gray grinned back. "Hell yeah, flame-breath." Natsu glared at Gray for the insult, but shrugged as he pulled out of the garage down the driveway onto the street. Natsu grinned to himself as he drove to school. '_Time to see what this school is like.' I've got a very good feeling about this._'

**To Be Continued...**

**A/N: Well, this is my second official story and my first NaZa story. I said in my other story that I would wait awhile to make this one, but all of yesterday and today I have been coming up with ideas about the story. I actually had trouble getting to sleep last night because I kept on coming up with new ideas haha. Oh yeah and I might be changing the name of Natsu and Gray's band, that's the best name I can think of right now. If any of you can think of a better name, either PM me or say it in your review. If I like the name, I'll change the name and give you credit for the name. **

**Anyways yeah, my second story and I will probably be updating this more the **_**The Princess and her Guardian **_**but don't worry if you really want to see the other story, I will still be updating that story at least twice a week, and this one once a week. That's depending on how lazy I am feeling that week haha. Also, if you haven't read **_**Never Thought **_**by KnightScales, I recommend you read that if you enjoyed this prologue. I have to admit I took some ideas from that story, such as Natsu being in a wealthy family, having a music career, and kind of the opener being the morning of the school day (I had no idea how to start this story, but I remembered how KnightScales started Never Thought and the ideas just started rushing into my head) but that's all I'm going to be borrowing. The rest is from my own imagination. **

**Also anyone curious about the time, I don't really know much about Japanese schools, so I'm going to have it take place in an American style high school. There are 4 years, Freshman, Sophomore, Junior, then Seniors. They are going in as Juniors in high school, which is also why they can drive to school.  
**

**Anyways, yeah, please review the story. I don't care if the reviews about the story being good or bad, only if you think its bad tell me why so I can improve my writing skills.**

**Peace!**

**-Infallible**


	2. First Day at New School

**Flames and Steel**

Natsu pulled into the school parking lot, both him and Gray looking at their new school for the first time. It was a large building, with "**Fairy Tail High**" written in huge letter above the front entrance to the school. Natsu then looked at the students gathering on the grass in front of the school, and sighed as he saw every single head turned towards the car that Natsu was currently driving. Grey voiced Natsu's thoughts.

"So much for coming in unnoticed, guess we should have chose something a little less noticeable to drive to school on the first day." Natsu nodded in agreement, and continued to drive into the parking lot, finding a spot quickly. He turned off the car, the sound of the engine cooling down the only thing heard inside the car as they collected their thoughts. Natsu glanced at Gray with a smirk.

"Ready for our first day?" Gray laughed as he reached into the back seat to grab his bag.

"I was born ready. Only thing he have to worry about is getting stampeded by a swarm of fan-girls." Natsu smirk slipped off his face as he thought of being stampeded by a horde of girls, all screaming for his autograph. He shuddered at the thought and grabbed his own bag from the back seat, and opened the driver side door and stepped out of the car.

Natsu leaned over so his head was sticking inside the car.

"We will have to sneak into the building unnoticed. You know, like two ninja's infiltrating an enemy camp!" Gray sweat dropped at his analogy, and opened his door and got out. He closed the door and glanced around, seeing only a few students getting out of their cars and heading to the school.

"Looks like we are in the clear, no horde of fan girls around. Maybe they didn't realize that it was us." Natsu closed his door and locked the car, also taking a glance around and seeing that Gray was right. They were in the clear, for now. Natsu and Gray started to walk towards the side entrance of the school, talking about what their next song should be but wary of their surroundings.

They both relaxed as they reached the door, Gray opening the door and entering first. They entered the hallway, and turned left to head towards the office, since they hadn't received their schedules yet.

They got halfway down the hallway before Gray and Natsu both tensed and glanced at each other, both having a feeling that something bad was going to happen. Not two seconds later and girls came screaming down the hallway in front of them, both Natsu and Gray's eyes widening in horror. Gray quickly turned around to run back the way they came, and came to a dead stop at what he saw. Natsu who had also turned around to run back ran right into Gray's back, almost falling down on his back.

"What the hell, Gray!" Natsu rubbed his face, but his eyes also widened as he saw what Gray was looking at. Another horde of girls had cut off their exit, successfully trapping them in the hallway. '_What the hell! It's like they had planned this since the start!_'

Which they most likely did, thought Natsu, since they had known they were going to attend Fairy Tail High since the middle of summer. Natsu and Gray barely had time to exchange glances before they were swarmed. The glances they gave each other said one word. **Shit**.

Next thing they knew, they were being pushed and shoved around, with the horde of teenage fan girls trying to either touch them or try to get them to sign an autograph.

Gray's voice was heard above the fray for a second "Girls, girls, calm down an- OUCH, that was my hair!"

Then Natsu's "I can't sign all these at once! W-w-what are you doing, I'm not going to sign you there!"

"Please, back up so-" Gray's cry could be heard above the sounds. "Watch where you are grabbing!"

Natsu was then being suffocated by the horde of girls around him. "I...can't...breathe...!"

Gray reached out in an attempt to save Natsu, but then disappeared under the swarm of hands holding papers and pictures that the girls wanted signed.

Suddenly, a cold breeze seemed to blow through the crowd, causing shivers to run down everyone's spine. A murderous aura settled over the group, and the girls looked at each other in fear. Only one person in the school could do this, and none of the girls wanted to be on her bad side.

"What is going on here?" A tall, girl with scarlet hair was standing on the edge of the crowd, her foot tapping the ground as she examined what was going on. She was flanked by two girls, one with blonde hair and the other with blue hair. Each time the scarlet haired woman's foot tapped the ground with an audible *click*, each and every girl in the group flinched.

"E-erza, what brings you-" The brave girl who spoke up was cut off by a glare from Erza. The girl flinched, and after one more click from Erza's foot, the whole group of girls turned tail and ran away, fearing for their lives if they stayed.

"Oh look at the time! Time for class!"

"I have to meet someone right now!"

"I have to go to bathroom!"

Many other excuses were said as the girls ran away from Erza, not wanting to feel the full wrath of the Class President, who had gained the nickname "The Fairy Daemon." She glanced down at the two males currently sitting on the ground, their clothes and hair looking a little disheveled.

The two girls behind Erza giggled as Natsu and Gray slowly got up, still a little confused, but happy, about the sudden disappearance of the girls. Natsu looked at their savior, and was stunned by what he saw. Before him stood one of the most beautiful girls he had laid eyes upon, and that was saying something since he spent a lot of time around models and such.

Erza gave them a quick glance over "I take it you both are the two new students."

Natsu and Gray nodded. "Yes we are, and who are you?"

"I'm Erza, the Class President." She stepped to the side and pointed to the blonde haired girl. "This is Lucy Heartfilia, and she is one of my two main assistants on the student council."

Lucy smiled at the both of them. "Nice to meet you! I'm a fan of yours, but you don't have to worry about me acting like the horde of girls did."

Both Natsu and Gray had tensed up when she said that she was a fan, but relaxed at the second part. Natsu and Gray both went up and shook her hand. Natsu smiled.

"Thank god, we don't really like it when that happens. Nice to meet you, and hope we can be friends." Lucy smiled back and clasped her hands behind her back.

"Of course!"

Erza pointed to the blue haired women by her. "This is Juvia Lockser, she is my other assistant that helps me with the student council."

Juvia smiled at them, though she seemed to gaze at Grey the whole time. "Pleasure to meet you both! Juvia is always glad to make friends on the first day of school!" Natsu and Gray looked at each other with confusion in their eyes at Juvia's use of third person, but shrugged it off and shook her hand.

"Same here." Gray said with a smile on his face, which Juvia turned around quickly to hide her blush. Gray stared at her questioningly, but shrugged it off.

Erza then sent both Natsu and Grey a glare, making them both straighten their back with a shiver running their spines.

"Just because you are famous, does not mean you get special treatment. You will follow the rules, and if you break them you will be punished." She crossed her arms under her chest and continued to glare at them. "Understood?"

"H-hai, hai!" They both shook their head vigorously, causing both Lucy and Juvia to sweat dropped. '_S-scary..._' both Natsu and Gray thought as Erza turned around.

"The principal actually sent me to come get you guys so you can grab your schedule, so follow me. The office is this way." Natsu and Gray nodded as they fell into step behind her, walking next to Lucy and Juvia. They walked into the office and to the door with the letters "**School Principal**" written on the door. Erza knocked on the door, and walked in when she heard "Come on in, doors unlocked!"

As they walked in, Natsu noticed something right away. The principal was short, really short. Looked like he could have passed as a legal midget, Natsu smirked as the thought crossed his mind.

"Something funny?" The school principal asked Natsu, with a tiny glare at Natsu.

Natsu gulped and quickly shook his head.

"Good, then we can proceed with this. My name is Makarov Dreyar, and I'm the school principal if you couldn't tell by now. I decided that in order for you to transition nicely into the school, I could pair you with someone that knew their way around the school. So I have decided to put Erza in the same class as Natsu and to put Juvia in the same class as Gray. It's a good bonus that you guys met each other, and became friends already though. It makes it easier."

Makarov smiled at them while handing Natsu and Gray their schedules. Natsu was happy; at least he would know someone in his classes. Even if she was scary and would most likely kill him for trying to talk to her during class.

Natsu gulped, thoughts of himself getting beaten by Erza for disrupting class running around in his mind. He would just have to stay on her good side, and then he wouldn't have to worry about that, right?

Natsu nodded to himself and looked over at Erza, who was currently talking with the principal about something related to the student council. She noticed someone was looking at her and looked up to meet Natsu's eyes. He smiled at her, and she smiled back before looking back at Makarov to continue their conversation.

'_Huh, maybe she isn't so scary after all_'

"So, what classes do you have?" Natsu looked to his left seeing Lucy standing there.

Natsu looked down at his sheet. "Hmmm, I have English 1st period, History 2nd, Biology 3rd, Sculpture 4th, Math 5th, and then I end the day with Photography. Not too hard of a schedule." Natsu looked back up at Lucy and laughed.

"Going to be kind of hard being awake during English for first period though."

Lucy frowned and gave Natsu a mini glare. "You think you have it hard? I have math first period!"

Natsu laughed and patted Lucy on the back. Lucy continued to glare at him for a second, and then sighed. Just then Natsu heard someone clear their throat behind him, and he turned around to see Erza standing behind him.

"It's time to go to class, the bell is about to ring. Lucy, you have History and Photography with us right?" Lucy nodded.

"Then you guys can continue your talk then, for now lets get to class." She glanced at Gray and Juvia who were still talking, Juvia blushing a little and shyly holding her arms in front of her, while Gray was oblivious to this as he continued on about something regarding ice and winter.

"You two head to class too, wouldn't want to be late, would you?" Erza said with a hint of a threat in her voice, causing both Juvia and Gray to nod their heads rapidly and hurry off to class. Erza glanced at Natsu and then started to walk away.

"Class is this way." Natsu jogged to catch up with her and walked next to her. He noticed that while all the students were polite and friendly to Erza as she passes by, they subconsciously sped up to get to class.

'_Looks like Erza keeps everyone in line. They respect and like her, but also fear her wrath._'

They reached the door to the first class, with Erza opening it and walking in. Natsu followed in after her and went to his seat by the window, after seeing his name written on that seat on the seating chart. Erza sat next to him as the bell rang, and the teacher introduced herself as Ultear. She then continued on with what every teacher did on the first day of school. Green Sheets.

Halfway through the class, and Natsu was already bored out of mind. He had resorted to lightly tapping a beat out on his desk with his pencil, as he stared out of the window lost in thought. This went on for a couple of minutes, until he felt someone shake his shoulder. He looked to his left to see that it was Erza that had brought him out of daydreaming. Natsu gulped when he noticed that she had an angry look on her face.

He raised his eyebrow at her in question, and she sent him a glare as she pointed towards the teacher. She didn't have to say anything, because the message was clear to Natsu. '**Pay attention to the teacher, or else.**'

Natsu sighed, but turned his attention towards the teacher. Even if he was bored out of his mind, he would rather be bored and pretend to pay attention then receive a beating from the Pres.

The rest of his morning flew by like that, all of the teachers going over the green sheet and the rules of the classroom. His history teacher's name was Gildarts Clive, and he seemed nice enough. His Biology teacher, Evergreen, was nice but VERY strict. The class he was in currently, Sculpture, and a cool but weird at the same time teacher. His name was Elfman Strauss, and he was obsessed over what a man is and how tough a man should be.

Natsu was bored out of his mind in every single class except Sculpture, since Mr. Strauss had insisted that green sheets were unmanly. So instead they were going over the meaning of art and different kinds of art around the world. While he was enjoying this class, the other classes still went over the green sheets which made him want to just get some extra sleep, but he had Erza sitting next to him in every class so he couldn't slack off and daydream.

Natsu sighed and clutched his shoulder as Erza once again brought him out of his daydreaming, but this time she used her fist. '_Even though its her job to make sure we pay attention, it sure does get annoying. Also, damn. She sure has an arm!_'

Near the end of the class, Natsu could have sworn that he was slowly dying of starvation. When he complained to Erza about this, she told him to stop whining, but he could see the small smile that graced her face.

When the bell rang, Natsu was the first one out of the classroom. He gained plenty of people staring at him like he was crazy as he shouted while on his knees. "Finally, lunch! Time to eat!"

Erza punched him on the head as she exited the classroom. "No need to be so melodramatic about it..."

Natsu got up rubbing his head. "So, do you mind if me and Gray join you guys for lunch?"

"I don't mind, Gray's probably with Juvia." She started walking towards the stairs. "This way." Natsu followed after her.

They walked up the stairs to the roof, and then opened the door to the rooftop.

Natsu looked at Erza with a confused look. "You guys are allowed up her?"

Erza smiled at Natsu. "Being the head of the student council does have its perks."

They walked over to a part of the roof that was shaded by an overhang and sat down while pulling out their lunches. Gray, Juvia, and Lucy joined them moments later, and they all sat around chatting with each other about their first day. They talked about the good teacher they had, and the bad.

Natsu started laughing so hard that his sides hurt when Juvia told them about how Gray had stood up to leave his 3rd period, but his pocket got caught on the edge of the table, effectively pantsing him.

Gray jumped across the group at Natsu, intent on beating him to a bloody pulp, when a two fist hit both of them, sending them sprawling.

"No fighting on school property." Erza said with a commanding tone as she gave both of them a glare.

"H-hai." They both said weakly as they picked themselves off the ground.

Natsu gazed at Erza as everyone continued on talking. '_She may have a scary side, but she also has a nice side too. Kind of cute._' Erza looked over at Natsu, eyebrow raised, wondering why Natsu was staring at her. Natsu quickly looked away at Lucy, who was currently talking about how she really likes her math teacher, Levy McGarden.

Natsu's ears perked at this, as she was his math teacher also. After hearing how nice and cool she was, Natsu relaxed and blew a sigh of relief. Strict and mean math teachers were the worst.

They talked for the rest of lunch, then said their goodbyes and headed to their 5th period as the bell rang. Natsu and Erza talked about random things until they reached their classroom then went to their respective seats. Natsu realized that Erza was sitting next to him again.

'_The school principal must have said something_'

He blinked as a thought crossed his mind. He had not been swarmed at all by any girls throughout the day. As he thought of this though, his eyes landed on the reason.

'_Of course, I've been with Erza the whole time!_' Natsu smiled as he realized this bonus, and looked up to the front of the class as Levy introduced herself. The class period went by fast as they went over the green sheet for the class. As the bell rang and they headed towards Photography, Lucy joined them on the way there.

As they sat down in there seats, with Erza sitting next to him again, their new teacher introduced herself.

"Hello class! My name is Mirajane Strauss."

Natsu quirked an eyebrow at the last name and raised his hand.

She saw his hand and looked down at the seating chart, then looked back up.

"Yes, Natsu?"

"Are you related to Elfman Strauss?"

Mirajane smiled. "Yes, he is my brother!"

"Ahhh, I see." Natsu said while nodding his head.

"Anyways, with that cleared up, let me hand out..." Natsu groaned at this, not wanting to see another green sheet for the rest of his life.

Erza elbowed him, and smiled. "Cheer up, at least this is the last one you will be getting. For this year, at least."

Natsu perked up, for he had forgotten that this was the last period of the day.

He smirked and pumped his fist in the air. "Yessss!"

Erza punched him lightly on the arm, still smiling. "Now be quiet, she's talking."

The class period went by fast, and with a minute left of class to go, Natsu was staring at the clock, willing it to go faster. As the bell rang, he was the first one out the door, yet again. Erza followed shortly after, shaking her head in amusement at Natsu antics.

"Lets go meet up with everyone before we head home." Natsu nodded his head in agreement as he followed her. They met up with everyone on the side of the school, right outside the door that Natsu and Gray entered the school in.

Natsu looked at the girls. "Any of you need a ride home?"

All of them shook their heads no, so with a few more minutes of small talk, also the girls exchanging phone numbers with the guys, they said their goodbyes. The girls walked together towards the sidewalk, with Natsu and Gray going to their car. As they both settled into the car, with Gray in the drivers seat and Natsu in the passenger's seat, they looked at each other and smirked.

Gray held his fist out. "This school is so much better than the old school, the people are a lot more friendly."

Natsu fist bumped Gray. "Hell yeah, I agree. Glad dad was able to find this school!"

Just then Natsu's phone buzzed, and Natsu looked at it. Gray raised his eyebrow at Natsu.

"Who is it?"

Natsu typed a reply to the person, and put it down. "John wants us at the studio in an hour."

"Alright, that's enough time to go home and get a snack."

With that said, Gray backed out of the parking spot, and drove to street, turning onto the street and heading home.

**(A/N) And there is my second chapter! To tell the truth, this chapter was hard for me to write. I found myself writing a NaLu story when I have Natsu and Lucy first meet; luckily I came to my senses and saw what I was writing haha. This is a NaZa story, not a NaLu story dammit! xD Also, I know there wasn't that much going on between Natsu and Erza, but that's the way I want it. I don't want to rush into it and make it seem non-realistic, but I'm also not going to have it drag on for like 20 chapters. So yeah, don't worry. I know what I'm going to do. :P **

**Anyways yeah, I have Dead Week and then finals after that, so I will be writing and then uploading whenever I have the time. Dead Week (next week) will probably be the same as now, but finals week I will most likely not update all week. Just warning you ahead of time.**

**Moving on, thanks for your reviews. I want the especially thank NxE-Forever for his review! His helpful advice helped me look back and realize that he was right, so I tried to fix that in this chapter. Hopefully I did. Anyways, please review!**

**Peace!**

**-Infallible**


	3. Sports and Club Day: Part 1

**Author Note at the end of the chapter explaining my absence. **

**Flames and Steel**

It was a bright, sunny day as Natsu stood under the shade of a tree, looking up at the sky. It had been a week since his first day at the new school, and he has loved every second of it. Everyone is a lot more laid back then the kids back at his old school, and the majority of people have calmed down at the prospect of having famous people going to their school.

Although there seemed to be a club that had been created for the "Observance of Celebrities", aka stalkers, and all the fan girls had joined that club. Both Natsu and Gray were thoroughly annoyed by the group.

Natsu sighed as he thought of them. Gray and Natsu always had the sense of being watched whenever they were alone, but luckily for them the girls seemed deathly afraid of Erza.

Both Gray and him had sensed that, and had started hanging out with Erza, Lucy, and Juvia constantly. At first it was mostly to escape the stalking girls, but had turned into Gray and him having a close relationship with the group of girls. At first Erza had her "Daemon President" presence when both of them had first started hanging out with the group, but she had slowly started opening up to the both of them.

"Natsu!"

Said man glanced back towards the voice, to see Gray standing at the entrance to the park. Natsu watched as Gray ran up to him, and raised an eyebrow when Gray glared at him.

"Yes?"

Gray continued to glare at him "You need learn to answer your phone when someone is calling you." Surprised, Natsu took his phone out of his pocket and saw he had 3 missed calls from Gray. Gray shook his head. "Anyways, Dad said he is going to take us out to dinner tonight, so hurry up and lets get back to the car." Natsu's eyes lit up when Gray said that their dad was taking them to dinner, and dashed off towards the car at full speed as Gray finished his sentence.

Gray sighed and starting jogging after Natsu. "At least I know how to bribe Natsu, by offering food."

Natsu groaned as he plopped onto his bed, feeling overly stuffed after eating out. '_I swear, an all you can eat buffet? That shit is a double-edged sword._' he thought as he took off his clothes and got under the covers n just his boxers. Just as he closed his eyes, he heard his phone vibrate on his nightstand.

His hand shot out to grab it, and opened one eye to glance at the time and who was texting him. It was 11, but seeing as it was Lucy, he unlocked the phone and read the message.

'_**Hey! I know it's a bit late, but I was wondering if you knew what the homework for Math?**_'

Natsu glared at her text, wondering why she was asking him. All he was trying to do was get some sleep.

'_**I don't know, and I'm too lazy to get out of bed to check. Ask Erza, she should know.'**_

He sent the reply and locked his phone, placing the phone back on the nightstand. He rolled over to get some sleep, but yet again was interrupted by the sound of his phone vibrating on the nightstand. With a sigh of anger and defeat, he rolled back over to check her text.

'_**Come on! I already sent her a text and she hasn't responded, so she's probably asleep. You're my last hope, pleeeeeeease? :) :) :)'**_

With a grumble, he got out of his bed and walked over to his backpack He got out his math notebook, muttering under his breath about stupid school, stupid Lucy and her bothering of him. He found the homework, turned on his desk light, and sent her a picture of the page numbers and the problems that she needed. He waited until her got her reply of '_**Thanks! You a lifesaver Natsu! :D' **_until he put all the stuff back into his backpack.

He quickly walked back to his bed and got under the covers and into the warmth again. He placed his phone on the nightstand and was about to roll over, but hesitated. He turned to the night stand, turned of his phone, and then promptly rolled onto his other side and fell asleep with a smile and content sigh.

"NATSU, GET YOUR LAZY ASS UP AND OUT OF BED!"

Natsu woke up with a start, arms flailing as he fought off the imaginary foe his mind created in response to that abrupt awaking. He rolled to side, which turned out to be a bad idea as he plummeted off the bed onto the hard ground with an audible '_**THUD**_**'** Groaning, he became aware of laughter a little in front of him. He quickly looked up in the direction of the noise, and glared at Gray, who was currently hunched over 'laughing his ass off'.

He realized what had happened and slowly got up, holding his glare on Gray, who felt the anger coming from Natsu causing him to look at Natsu. "Gray, you bastard… You are a dead man"

Gray looked at Natsu, then quickly turned around and bolted out of the room, with Natsu hot on his heels. They ran down the halls, zigzagging through the halls and around corners, one with fear for his mortal life, and the other with a seething anger.

As they ran down the halls, they narrowly ran past maids and servants alike, the servant and maids jumping out of the way. Natsu, only being angry at Gray, and Gray, who was running for his life, yelled sorry to everyone they almost hit. The servants and maids stared after the two for a few brief moments, and then looked at each other and laughed at the kid's foolishness, and continued on working.

The pursuit came to an abrupt stop, though, when Gray turned the corner and ran headlong into a low table that had been moved by one of the cleaning ladies, effectively causing his ankle to hit the table, tripping him and making him summersault in the air and roll on the ground, coming to a sliding stop.

Natsu had rounded the corner in time to see this, and would have been laughing at Gray if he himself had been able to stop his momentum. As a last ditch effort, Natsu tried to jump of the table, but to no avail. His feet hit the table mid jump, and with a cry Natsu face planted on the ground, sliding to a halt right next to Gray so that they were side by side.

The maid who had been cleaning stared at the two with her mouth agape, shocked by what happened. The maid then heard both of them start groaning as they regained conciseness, and the pain started to kick in as they came awake. The maid shook her head in disbelief, and then called over some more servants to help her check on them while calling the local doctor.

Erza, Lucy, and Juvia stared at the both of them in shock as they showed up to school late during the beginning of lunch. Both Natsu and Gray had bandages around their heads from the tumble, and Natsu had tape across his nose from the face plant. They sat staring at them in shock for a few seconds, then Lucy staring to break into laugher, the other girls soon joining her.

Natsu and Gray both glared at them, daring them to say anything, which caused the girls to try and stifle their laughter, but to no avail. Erza was the first one to recover, and asked to question all the girls had.

"What the hell happened to you guys?"

Natsu snorted and glared at Gray, who looked away with a huff. Natsu looked back at Erza, contemplating what to say, and came to a decision for the easiest/least embarrassing answer. "Long and painful story."

Erza stared at Natsu for a second, deciding whether to accept that answer or not, and decided that if they didn't want to talk about it, she wouldn't press. She shrugged, and went back to her meal, giggling a little when she looked sidelong at both of them. Natsu and Gray ignored their laughter and opened their lunch bags, grabbing their food and starting to eat. They ate in silence for a minute, until Juvia broke the silence.

"Juvia is curious, what clubs or sports are you guys going to join?"

Natsu and Gray looked at each other in confusion, then looked back at Juvia. Gray answered for them.

"What are you talking about?"

It was the girl's time to look at each other in confusion, then Lucy sighed and face palmed.

"You guys totally forgot that today is club day, and also the day to sign up for sports, didn't you?"

Natsu and Gray's faces light up in realization, and they both looked at each other with grins on their faces.

"Basketball." They both said at the same time, giving each other a fist pump. Natsu looked back at the girls, and answered the question he knew was coming.

"We both play basketball on our free time, a sport our dad got us into. Our dad is really into basketball, and planned on being a basketball player when he was a kid. That didn't work out though, because in his first high school year he broke his leg while snowboarding, making it so his leg would never be as good as it was before, and it ruined his basketball career. After that he got into business and worked hard to get good at what he does, and started up the firm he owns now."

Erza and the girls nodded in understanding. Erza folded her legs and turned towards them. "Our basketball team is not really that good, they usually lose more then they win. Hopefully, if you guys are as good as you say you are, then our basketball team can starting winning some more games."

Gray grinned, "Oh trust me, we are _very _good at basketball. Our dad made sure of that." Natsu laughed, thinking of the times when they had asked Igneel to train them for basketball, and how he had agreed. They didn't know what they were getting them selves into by asking him though, and it turned out that Igneel was like a drill sergeant.

The bell rang, signaling the student to go to their next class. Natsu walked off with Erza towards math, while Gray walked off with Juvia and Lucy towards whatever class they had.

Natsu and Erza talked while they walked, and when Natsu asked what club Erza was going to join, Erza just gave him a look without responding. Natsu thought about it for a second, then laughed sheepishly.

"Oh yeah that's right, student council. Gotcha."

They entered their Math class, and started the daily routine of Natsu trying his hardest to pay attention, but failed. This resulted in some type of reminder from Erza to pay attention, be it from fist or other various means.

Even though Natsu tried his hardest to pay attention, it was hard for him since he already knew everything that they were learning. Just another perk from having a father that was very educated and good at what he does and good at math.

With a sigh of relief, the bell rang for the end of math, and Natsu hurried out of the room. Everyone that passed Natsu looked at him in confusion about his wrapped head, but shrugged it off and continued on walking. Natsu waited until Erza got out of the class, and then they both continued onto the last period class, Photography.

They met Lucy halfway there, and all three of them continued onto thier 6th period together. Erza and Lucy chatted about something related to some chick band, and Natsu barely listening to their conversation as he found the subject boring. They rounded the corner, and walked into Photography class.

The three of them proceeded to their seats, Lucy saying bye as her seat was across the room. They sat in their seats, all the students talking quietly to each other as they waited for the bell to ring. The bell rang, and their teacher, Miss Strauss, walked up to the front of the class and clapped her hands for their attention.

"Today, we are going to learn about some famous photographers…"

They finished 20 minutes early and Miss Strauss let them talk for the rest of the period. Lucy quickly made her way over to Natsu and Erza.

"So you guys want to do something after we sign up for the clubs and stuff after school?"

Erza nodded "Sure, I don't have any plans today." Lucy looked at Natsu, waiting for his answer.

Natsu took out his phone, and went into his calendar. He browsed through what he had to do today, and found that all he had to do was go to a meeting with Gray and his band manager, but he could move that to tomorrow. He looked up to Lucy. "I'm clear for the day, and I'm pretty sure Gray is too."

Lucy smiled. "Sweet! Lets meet up after the sign ups, then we can go hang out somewhere and get a bite to eat."

Both Erza and Natsu smiled in return. "Sound like a good idea."

They sat around talking, Lucy texting Juvia and Gray to see if they were free, with them texting back as being free. They talked about random things, such as who they thought was a best actor, best movies of all time (Natsu and Erza getting in a heated argument over whether Lord of the Rings or Harry Potter was better) until the bell rang for the end of class.

They filed out of the classroom with their classmates, with Natsu breaking off from Erza and Lucy to go find Gray so they could go sign up for basketball. He found him talking with some guy he recalled as being called Lyon, and walked up to them. He greeted Lyon, who shook his hand, and Gray informed him that Lyon was also signing up for the basketball team.

The three of them talked to each other for a few minutes, then they walked off towards the gym, Natsu and Gray both ready to show their skill at basketball.

**(A/N) So….. Don't kill me? Haha, sorry about not updating in a long ass time, trust me there was a reason for it! So during dead week I studied hardcore for finals, then on finals week I was focused totally on school. Thankfully it paid off and I did well on my finals. Anyways, that's where shit hits the fan. My Microsoft Word stops working, as in I could open it but I couldn't type or click anything in it. So I had to wait until I got my new computer for Christmas, which ended up being delayed and came the week after Christmas. **

**So I got that and set it up, but then school started, and the teachers basically laughed at us while giving us the middle finger and piling homework onto us, which made my days very busy. I had to choose between three things after I finished my homework; Hang out with friends, play games on my new computer that my old computer (which had been about 9 years old, couldn't play any new games) couldn't handle, and write. So 90% of the time I chose between hanging out with friends and playing games. Then when I sat down to write, I couldn't think of anything to write and would start playing games.**

**Any who, I just moved from California to Arizona, I currently have no Internet (I have to go to the local Starbucks for their internet, which is how I'm uploading this, and also on a side note, Starbucks hot chocolate is delicious), and I came to a realization. In order to write I have to go away from the games, and since I'm finishing my senior year with homeschooling, I have a lot of free time on my hands. So with that explanation said, I promise that I will continue writing and updating this story, so just be patient. :)**


	4. Sports and Club Day: Part 2

**Flames and Steel**

"Tryouts are this Friday, don't forget!" Yelled the captain of the basketball team, Max, as everyone who signed up walked away. Lyon walked outside of the gym with them and then said his good byes. Both Natsu and Gray walked towards the parking lot, where their car was parked. The guys had texted the girls to meet them there instead, so that they could drive to where they were going.

They saw the girls standing around the car, talking as they waited. Natsu saw Erza look over towards him and Gray, and waved. Erza waved back and the girls turned towards them.

"So, where are we going to hang out?" Gray asked as Natsu and him walked up to the girls, with Gray going to stand next to Juvia and Natsu next to Erza, creating a half moon shape. Lucy was the one to answer.

"Where everyone goes to hang out, the Magnolia mall!" Natsu sighed, as he has always hated going to the mall. In his opinion, it was always too crowded. Erza glanced in his direction with a raised eyebrow.

"Is that a problem, Natsu?"

Natsu shook his head "No, its just always so crowded at the mall. Me and crowds don't really mix well, since I always seem to get mobbed by one."

Erza face lit up with realization. "Oh yeah, I had forgotten that you are famous!" Both Lucy and Juvia nodded in agreement, their faces also having a look of realization on them.

Natsu face palmed, and Gray laughed while rubbing the back of his head. "Yeah, Natsu and I have never really done well with crowds because of that." Then he looked at Erza with a grin on his face. "But I guess Erza could always just scare them off, hell she could do that without even trying, just a look at her face would have them running."

Erza glared at Gray, and when Natsu gave a bark of laughter a second later, she quickly turned on him and laid him flat with a solid punch to the face.

Natsu got up slowly, rubbing his face "Shit! Ow! What the hell Erza, I wasn't even the one to insult you!"

Erza looked away with a huff "Yeah but you laughed, and you were closer to me than Gray." Natsu look at her in disbelief, and would have continued arguing with her, if not for the glare from Erza that promised another punch to the face if he didn't shut up.

Natsu grumbled, but made the smart move and closed his mouth, instead deciding to glare at Gray. "I'm going to make you pay later, freeze brain." Gray shrugged off his threat, and looked at Lucy and Juvia.

"So anyways, are we going to do anything specific there?"

"We are going to see a movie, but we don't know which one to watch yet." Juvia replied.

Natsu face lit up in excitement "I saw a few days ago that the new horror film, Rise of the Dead, just came out in theatres. Lets watch that!" Gray looked at Natsu, and then started to nod excitedly in agreement. He looked over at the girls "That cool with you guys?"

Lucy and Juvia nodded, with Lucy grinning "Hell yes we are, horror films are the best!" Natsu looked at Erza, who hadn't said anything.

"That good with you Erza?" Erza looked at Natsu, and nodded slowly, though Natsu could see that she was a little hesitant about agreeing.

Gray quickly pulled out his phone, and looked up movie times. He saw that there was a showing in a half and hour, and fist pumped into the air. "Sweet! There is a showing in 30 minutes, lets hurry before the run out of tickets. I'm driving!" With that he unlocked the car, and got into the drivers seat.

"I call shotgun!" shouted Lucy as she ran around the car and got into the passengers seat. Juvia got into the back seat, and as Natsu and Erza walked behind the car, Natsu grabbed Erza's arm and stopped her.

Natsu looked at Erza with concern on his face "You didn't look too sure about seeing the movie, are you really okay with watching it?"

Erza looked at Natsu for a second, then gave him a smile. "Yeah, its just that I haven't really watched that many horror films before, because my Dad brought me to one when I was younger. Ever since then I've never really liked horror films, because of the bad experience. But with you guys there, it should be fine."

Natsu looked at Erza, and then smiled and nodded back. As they walked to the car door, Natsu thought about how cute Erza looked when she smiled. Over the times they were friends, Natsu had found himself starting to like Erza as more then a friend. He had decided not to say anything about it, thinking that it was just a tiny crush and didn't want to make things awkward between them with a confession.

They got into the car, Natsu started to wonder what it would be like if Erza and him were more then friends, but quickly shook his head to clear his mind of those thoughts. He was perfectly content with how things currently were, so why risk ruining that? He looked out the front window, thinking about that as Gray turned the car on and pulled out of the parking spot, than driving on towards the mall.

Luckily they hit all the green lights, and the traffic wasn't too bad, so they got there in around 15 minutes. They got out of the car, and hurried towards the movie theatre, hoping that the tickets weren't already sold out.

As they walked into the mall and towards the movie theatre, Gray and Natsu did their best to hide their faces, so that they wouldn't be recognized by anyone. They succeeded, as there was no commotion on their way to the ticket booth. They reached the ticket booth, and Lucy bought the tickets with the money Gray had given her.

At first the girls had refused the offer for the boys to pay for their tickets, saying they were "perfectly able to buy their own tickets, just because they weren't rich didn't mean they were poor". Natsu and Gray were able to change their minds, saying that it was "the gentlemanly thing to do" which was true; their father had raised them with the strict belief that a man should try his best to always be a gentleman to a women.

With their newly bought tickets, they walked up the stairs leading to where the movie theaters were, and then took a detour. The reason for this was that Natsu's eyes had lit up at the sight of the snack counter, causing him to veer off in the direction of the snack counter. The girls and Gray sweat dropped as they stared after Natsu then followed him to the counter.

The lady behind the counter smiled at Natsu. "What can I get for you?"

Natsu looked at the selection with a serious and concentrated face, looking for his type of candy. Erza looked at Natsu curiously, and then leaned over to Gray.

"Why does he look so serious?" Gray glanced at her, and then gave a smirk.

"Natsu's greatest weakness, food. Bribe him with the right type and amount of food, and you could convince him to be your servant for the day." He gave a small laugh, causing Natsu to glance at him, but shrug it off and continue with the browsing of food.

Gray leaned in to talk to Erza again, only this time he whispered. "Out of all the food, candy has to be up there on his weakness. I swear we could be here 15 minutes before he is able to make his choice."

Erza sighed, "I'll get him to order fast then." With that said, she leveled a glare at Natsu which sent shivers down his spine. He quickly looked up and around, and met Erza's eyes. Natsu gulped as the message, to hurry his ass up, was received fully by him through the glare, and quickly looked back at the selection.

In four seconds flat, Natsu had ordered some candy and popcorn, with a Slurpee. Gray was staring open-mouthed at what had just happened, and glanced over at Erza. Erza looked at him, and gave a self-satisfied smile, and led the way towards the theatre. Gray shook his head, and followed after.

They walked into the theatre, with Natsu's hands being full with the food that he purchased. They quickly did a scan for open seats, and found to their amazement and happiness that there were 5 open seats in two of the rows, that were placed right in the middle of the theatre.

They rushed towards the seats, with Gray, Juvia, and Lucy taking the three seats on the bottom row, and Natsu and Erza taking the two seats on the upper row. Right as they settled in, the movie trailers started.

Natsu leaned over to Erza "Just in the nick of time, eh?" he whispered.

Erza gave a tiny, quiet laugh, and whispered back. "Yeah, but you almost made us late with your damn indecision."

Natsu smiled sheepishly "Yeah, sorry about that."

Erza waved it off "Not a problem, just learn to make quicker decisions."

Natsu pouted and raised his voice a little. "It's harder then it looks! There are so many kinds of candy! Salty, sweet, and it also depen-" he was cut off from a loud shush from the person behind them.

Natsu and Erza both looked back with an apologetic smile. "Sorry!" With that Natsu and Erza looked back towards the screen, not wanting to disrupt any one anymore.

The movie started, much to the excitement of the group, except for one of them. Erza was good at hiding it, so she didn't show any outward apprehension towards watching the movie before they got in there. As she sat there and the movie started though, she couldn't help but start to feel that it was a bad idea to have agreed to this.

Erza was not one to be afraid of a lot of things, but horror films were definitely something that scared her. She hoped that being with her friends would help her get over this fear she has had ever since a kid, but she started doubting and regretting that decision as the movie went through the intro, with the credits rolling.

The movie had been going for about a half an hour, and was finally starting to get to the good parts. His food and drinks had been devoured already, with everyone else in the group stealing from him. At first he growled at them and tried his best to keep his food away from them, but as the movie went on he was engrossed in it, missing the thieving hands of his friends.

Natsu was staring at the screen in excitement, as he could feel that the scene was building up to the scare point, and couldn't wait. This was the reason why he enjoyed horror movies so much, the thrill of the suspense as you waited for that moment to be scared shitless. The first ever horror movie saw had gotten him hooked onto the genre, and he had soon gotten his brother hooked on the genre too.

The scene was building up the tension, with the main character and his cousin slowly walking down the hallway of an abandoned house, after hearing a moaning noise coming from the other room. They were doing the cliché horror movie character thing and walking towards the noise, but with the music slowly building up, and the moaning getting loader as they walked towards the room, the tension in the theatre had grown so much everyone could feel it.

Natsu suddenly felt something touching his hand, and he looked over to see someone had grabbed his hand. He followed the arm up to see it was Erza, who looked like she was about to scream at any second, but didn't realize that she had grabbed his hand. She felt Natsu gaze on her and glanced over, and at the questioning look from Natsu looked down at their hands.

Her eyes widened, and she quickly looked up at Natsu with an embarrassed and apologetic look on her face. She looked like she was about to move her hand away, but Natsu shook his head and smiled, to say that it was fine. Erza looked at him for a moment, then smiled and gave him a thankful look before they both looked back to the screen.

The music had reached the peak, and with one swift movement the main character pushed open the door. Everyone gasped in anticipation for the scare, but it didn't come as the music stopped with the moaning, causing the characters in the movie and everyone in the theatre to relax. Then that's when the scare hit.

With a loud screeching noise, a monster came out of the shadows behind the cousin. The cousin fell to the ground, yelling and screaming in pain as the monster started to tear into him. The main character screamed, and ran as fast as he could away from the monster, abandoning his cousin. He could hear his cousin screaming in pain and calling for him to help as he bolted through the house looking for an exit.

With the loud screeching attack from the monster in the movie, the whole theatre seemed the shriek in unison. Natsu was about to start laughing at how loud he had yelled, but was surprised when he felt a bump on his shoulder and a weight behind him.

He glanced back behind him to find out what it was, only to see scarlet hair hiding behind him. To say he was surprised would have been an understatement; he was completely stunned. Sure, he knew that Erza didn't like horror movies, but he had never expected her to react that way.

One thing was going through his head as he looked at her. '_C-cute…._' But he was brought out of that when he realized that Erza was looking up at him, with a face that had mixed emotions on it. There was still a hint of the fear from the movie, but there was also shock at her own reaction, and embarrassment from her reaction, but it was the look she was giving him that he fixated on, the look from her was silently asking him if he was okay with it.

Natsu immediately gained a smile on his face, and nodded. He meant it as a friend, of course he wouldn't mind helping out a fellow friend. To him though, he also knew he was doing it because of the "tiny crush" he had gained for her. He was happy that he could do something like this for her.

So with that they went back to watching the movie, Erza using Natsu and a personal "hiding screen" when ever the movie threw the scare at them. He almost missed it, but saw Gray glance back at them during one of the scare scenes, and when they made eye contact Gray gave him a grin that Natsu had taken to calling his "shit-eating grin" which meant bad news for Natsu.

Natsu sighed and gave Gray a glare that promised pain if he said anything or gave him shit, which Gray just looked away from with the grin still plastered to his face. Natsu glared at the back of his head for a full thirty seconds, making sure Gray got the idea, before looking back at the movie.

The movie ended, and the group got up and started filing through the isles and out the exit. Gray, Juvia, and Lucy went out the left exit with Natsu and Erza going out the right exit. As they exited the theatre, they saw that Gray and Lucy were talking excitedly about the movie, with Juvia standing by them smiling and nodding.

Natsu was about to go and join them, but felt a hand pulling on his arm, and looked over to see Erza standing with her hand on his arm. She gestured for him to follow her, and he starting following her while looking over at Gray, who was staring questioningly after them. He mouthed "_One minute" _to him and turned back to continue following Erza.

They went to a corner, and Erza turned around to speak to Natsu.

"Thank you." A surprised look grew on Natsu's face, so Erza quickly continued to explain herself.

"Thanks for what you did back in there, it really helped out a lot. It probably would have been worse for me without that, so thanks."

Natsu tried the best to hide it, but he was now beyond shocked. Here was the great Erza, standing before him with a look that made him think of her as a regular high school girl instead of the hard women he usually saw Erza as. "Uh… yeah, no problem…. your welcome…" He stumbled over his words a little, giving away a little of his shock.

Then he saw a familiar look come to Erza's face, it was a hard look that made Natsu feel cold. "If I catch you telling anyone about this, _anyone_, I will personally make your life a living hell until the day you die. Understand?"

Natsu eyes widened, and a shiver ran up his spine as he thought of his life if that were to happen. He quickly nodded his head, with "of course" and "yeah" being repeated over and over again. Erza gave a quick smile, although it was a smile with a hint of a promise of pain, and gave him a pat on the shoulder as she walked past him to rejoin the group.

Natsu turned and watched her walk away, and thought about what happened in the theatre. It was a side of Erza he had never seen before, and he found that he liked that side of her. He found that he wanted to find out more about her, and see her other sides, but shook his head of those thoughts as he walked back towards the group. Like before, he thought that there was no point in making it awkward between them with those thoughts.

Although he said that to himself, as Natsu laid down on his bed that night he couldn't get the theatre out of his head. He fell asleep thinking of Erza, with scarlet hair filling his dreams.

**(A/N) And there's chapter 4. Couldn't think of a way to end this chapter for a while, hopefully the ending wasn't too cheesy. Also, I'm looking for someone to beta this story, so anyone that has spare time and feels like betaing this story just PM me.**

**Anyways yeah, Natsu feelings start to grow; I wonder how this is going to play out?!... Just kidding, I know exactly how this is going to play out, I just have to type it out :P Also thanks to everyone who has reviewed, it really helps give me motivation to continue writing! So I say again, thanks.**

**Peace!**

**-Infallible**


	5. The Queen and her Vassal

_**Dedicated to NxE Forever**_

**To anyone that's curious of why I put that, my A/N at the end of the chapter explains. Now, start reading! …. Please? **

**Flames and Steel**

"Ten more suicides! Faster! You call that running Jason? My Dad can run faster then that, and he is in a wheel chair! I believe I said to run faster, do I have to make you run an extra twenty suicides until you get the message?!"

The whole teams eyes widened as they started to sprint faster, although most of them felt like their legs were going to fall off. This was the last part of their practice, after this they were finished, with that thought in their minds they sprinted as fast as they could.

The team was conditioning, and even though the team conditioned every year before the season started, no one was expecting it to be like this. The reason for this sudden and unexpected change was that the basketball team had gotten a new coach, and he meant business.

They had finished tryouts the week before on Friday, and the new coach had been there to watch. He didn't speak much, only to tell Max what to do next. The team went through a grueling three-hour tryout session, which tested what everyone was good at, and what they were bad at. The moment a student didn't meet a requirement for his team, he was kicked out right then and there.

About forty-to-fifty kids had shown up for tryouts, but only fifteen of the kids were going to make it on the team. This caused a lot of disappointment in the kids that were kicked out of tryouts for not meeting the standards. After he had kicked out the last kid, he called over the fifteen kids he had chosen to be on team.

His name was Brad Larson, and the first thing that he had said to the team had immediately set the tone for how the team was going to be while he was coach. His words were "Okay kids, I'm going to give you one chance. One chance to leave." The fifteen of them had looked at each other, confused. Didn't they just make it through the brutal tryouts, why the hell would they quit now? They all looked back as the coach started to speak again.

"I say this because it's not going to be easy. By being on this team, you are agreeing to play as hard as you can, whenever you are on the court. During training, I will run you until you can barely stand, then I will run you some more. I wont tolerate any slacking, and no laziness. If you are injured, it is mandatory to come to practice and watch the others practice. Only way I'll cut you slack is if you are sick. Only time I will tolerate a halt in running is if you are bending over puking your guts out, but after you finish you damn well be getting back in line and continuing with the team. As I said, this wont be easy. So I am giving you one chance to back out. I wont think any less of you if you back out now, I just want people committed to this team, people who want to play."

After his speech, many of the kids were wide eyed. They looked at each other and gulped, looking for reassurance in the eyes of their fellow teammates. Both Gray and Natsu had looked at each other then stepped forward. Natsu had a steely, determined look on his face.

"Hell yeah I'm in, no point in playing a sport if I can't commit myself to working hard. As they say, if you didn't work hard for it, then its not worth much, is it?" Gray had stood next to Natsu, nodding in agreement to his words.

Slowly but surely the confidence in the other kids eyes had grown, and they all then stepped forward to join Gray and Natsu, determination on their faces and in their eyes. Brad had looked at them for a few seconds, making sure they were absolutely certain about their decisions. He had then smiled. "Welcome to the team."

The last kid crossed the line, completing the set of ten suicides. Brad stood looking at them with his arms crossed, a frown on his face. The team was standing right past the line, bent over with their arms on their knees, trying to get their breath back. The sound of retching came form the direction of the trashcan as one of the players was bent over it. Slowly a grin slid on to Brad's face.

"That concludes the first day of practice. You can all go home. Be here same time tomorrow, sharp."

A small, out of breath, cheer was raised by the players, and they all started to walk, albeit slowly, towards the locker room. Natsu ripped his shirt off as soon as he got inside, the sweat making his shirt feel suffocating. He grinned as Gray did the same next to him, sweating just as much as Natsu.

"Fun first day of practice, eh?" Gray shook his head and laughed.

"If you call almost dying from being worked hard fun, then yeah I'd call it a friggin' fantastic time we had." Many of the kids around them laughed as they walked towards their lockers. Natsu and Gray reached their lockers, opening them and retrieving their clothes.

Natsu glanced over at Gray as he took of his basketball uniform and starting wiping the sweat off his face and chest with a towel. "So, do we have anything to do today, or are we free to do what ever the hell we want?" Gray picked up his phone, and went into the calendar. Natsu continued to wipe him self down, then starting putting his street clothes back on.

Gray locked his phone again and did the same as Natsu. "Yeah, we have to be at the recording studio in two hours, and after that I have a ton of homework to do."

Natsu nodded, taking in the information. "I think I might go study with Erza, we have a big test coming up in Economics and she asked if I wanted to study with her at her place." At the mention of Erza, Gray gained his shit-eating grin.

"Oh, getting some alone time with her, eh? Maybe to try and do a little more than studying?" Natsu glared at Gray, and was about to retort when he heard someone behind them. He looked behind to see some of the players, and it seemed that they had over heard.

The reason he thought this was because all of them had gained a knowing look, and were grinning like idiots. One of the kids, named Jason White, walked up and wrapped an arm around Natsu's shoulders, and raised his voice, making sure everyone in the locker room heard. "So you have a thing for the Daemon Prez? Be careful, she might have to take your soul in order for you to get down and dirty."

Some of the kids in the locker room snickered, and the others walked up, curious to see if this was true. Natsu was glaring at all of them. "Hell no I don't, I'm just going to study with her. She is in all my classes, so she asked me to help her study. Unlike you guys, I'm not an asshole so I agreed." Most of the kids nodded, and walked out of the locker room talking to each other, losing interest now that he had a reasonable explanation. Natsu inwardly sighed in relief, but didn't let anyone see that he was relieved.

He continued to glare at Jason, who took his arm off of Natsu's shoulder, and held his hands up in defense. Jason kept his grin on his face, though. "I was just kidding, chill out man." He started to walk out. "Anyways, see you guys tomorrow" With that he left while talking to another player on the team.

Natsu turned his glare onto Gray, who raised an eyebrow. Natsu quickly looked around, making sure they were alone. Satisfied he returned his attention to Gray. "By the way, if you tell anyone about what happened at the theatre, I'll personally kick your ass. She's embarrassed about it."

Gray looked at Natsu with a serious face. "Come on bro, you know I wouldn't do that. My mouth is sealed." Natsu nodded his head in thanks to Gray, than picked up his backpack, slinging it over his shoulder.

"Come on, let's go get something to eat before we head over to the studio." They walked out of the locker room together, arguing over where to go for lunch. They resorted to rock, paper, and scissors to finalize where they were going. After a two to one victory by Natsu, who took the chance to gloat in Gray face about his victory, they got in the car and headed over to Buffalo Wild Wings.

On the way there Natsu pulled out his phone, and texted Erza.

'_**I have time today to study, you still want to hang out?**_'

They left BWW an hour and a half later, both of them having content looks on there faces. As they got in the car, Gray laughed as he burped. "You know, this may be the first time that I am actually glad that I lost to you. All you can eat wings for twenty bucks? I think I'm about to explode I feel so full." Natsu laughed as he sat there contently smiling while rubbing his stomach.

"I know what you mean, they have to have the best wings ever created." With that said, Gray turned the car on and put into gear, driving to the studio for their rehearsal.

They rolled down the windows so they could get a breeze, with it being a hot day outside. Natsu turned on the radio, and turned it to their favorite channel. About three quarters on the way to the studio, their favorite song came on.

Both Gray and Natsu grinned and nodded at each other, they always sung along with this song. It would also help them loosen up their voices before their rehearsals, plus they listened to this song so much they practically had it memorized.

As the first chorus started, Natsu starting to play on an air guitar and sung along.

_When the end is getting closer_

_And the earth has burned the sky_

_Now repent 'cause it's all over_

_Just let me die_

When the guitar cut out, Gray started singing along with Johnny and the first verse.

_Here's the massacre,_

_A mausoleum fit for me,_

_Lived a hundred years_

_A hundred years I didn't see_

_Gave all my hope away_

_Is there any left for me?_

_Bombs are splitting atoms_

_What can the future bring?_

_We can fill a million choirs_

_And wait 'till children sing_

_We can walk a million miles_

_And end up in the sea._

_And our lungs just keep filling,_

_And lying when we breathe._

_The world's filled with liars,_

_Liars like me!_

_And I look at my child_

_It's finite – this feeling._

_Eyes blue like the sky_

_I see all of this meaning._

_I reach up to God_

_And I ask if I'm dreaming._

_So sorry I don't have_

_Those things that you're needing_

_And darling a kiss_

_Kiss me. I'm leaving!_

As the guitar kicked in again, Natsu took over with the song. He sung along with Danny, who sung the chorus.

_When the end is getting closer_

_And the earth has burned the sky_

_Now repent 'cause it's all over_

_Just let me die_

Natsu beat out the drums on the dashboard with his hands. Because they themselves were musicians, they got really into the music. They both were laughing and having a good time.

_As my body lies here broken_

_And I'm carried to the light_

_Now my heart is finally open_

_Just let me die!_

This time as the guitar broke off, Natsu continued on singing as the second verse started.

_Everybody says greetings and goodbyes_

_Everybody pays – no one knows the price_

_We know the price of sin_

_The sin of sacrifice_

_I know I'll sin again_

_But who can save me twice?_

_How much can we ask?_

_You'll get the answer first_

_How much can we kneel_

_With the air that chills the Earth?_

_The air keeps getting colder._

_My knees keep hitting dirt._

_The innocent can cry without the guilty getting hurt._

_You ask who you love and you don't know, no, do you?_

_The spirit of God just passes right through you._

_You gave away heaven, handed right to you_

_And I can see it all. Tell me, is it true?_

_Kiss me, my darling. Darling, I need you._

As Danny started singing again, they both started singing along. At this point they were fully into it, body movement and all.

_Where do we go?_

_We go, oh, Lord, I don't know_

_Where we go?_

_We don't know_

_I don't,_

_Where do we go?_

_We go, oh, Lord, I don't know_

_Where we go?_

_We don't know_

_Lord, I don't know!_

Natsu once again started with the air guitar, while Gray started to beat out the drums on the steering wheel. They both started to sing again, finishing off the song as they pulled into the parking garage.

_When the end is getting closer_

_And the earth has burned the sky_

_Now repent 'cause it's all over_

_Just let me die_

_As my body lies here broken_

_And I'm carried to the light_

_Now my heart is finally open_

_Just let me die!_

The song finished as they pulled into their parking spot, with Gray turning the engine off. They laughed as they got out, with Natsu grinning at Gray. "We should try to get a song with them. Maybe ask to do a cover of that song, because if I do say so myself I think we did a fantastic job of a cover."

Gray laughed and nodded his head in agreement. "Yeah I agree, would be pretty badass either way, song or cover. We should try to meet them though, that would be cool. Lets ask the Chief about it, I don't think he'll have a problem with it, since it could bring in more fans."

They continued discussing what the do as they walked into the elevator. As the door closed Natsu felt his phone buzz in his pocket. He pulled it out, checking to see who it was. It was from Erza.

'_**Yeah, sure. Sorry for the late text, didn't check my phone. What time are you going to coming over?**_'

Natsu looked at Gray. "How long do you think we'll be here?" Gray stared straight ahead, thinking.

"Well, we only have one song that we are doing right now, shouldn't take too long. Two hours, tops. Why?" Natsu looked down at the clock on his phone, seeing that it was only four o'clock.

'_**No problem. We are doing a rehearsal, so ill be there around six. That ok?**__'_ Natsu looked back up at Gray as he sent the message. "Erza asked."

"Oh yeah, I almost forgot." He gave Natsu a sly glance. "Your _**date**_." He put emphases on the word 'date'. Natsu shot Gray a look, and Gray held up his hands, laughing. "I'm just joking, just joking. No need to get your panties in a bundle."

Natsu just rolled his eyes, and decided to only sock Gray in the shoulder. Although, it was not a soft punch that he gave Gray. The elevator door opened, with Gray exiting first rubbing his shoulder. He was muttering about how some people 'need to learn how to take a joke'.

Natsu walked out, and felt his phone vibrate again.

'_**Yeah, that's fine. See you then.**_'

'_**Yeah, don't miss me too much until I get there :P**__'_

With a smile on his face he walked over to the studio director. Before he reached him, he felt his phone vibrate with Erza's reply.

'_***rolls eyes* I don't think you have to worry about that.**__'_

'_**Ouch! So, so cold haha**__'_

He talked to the studio director for a few minutes, and felt Erza's reply against his leg, so he checked his phone again when he started walking towards the room that Gray and him practiced in.

'_**Yeah, yeah. Maybe that can be my new nickname, "Ice Queen Erza". :P Anyways, hurry your ass up and practice, I'm not failing this test because you took too long to get here.**__'_

'_***Formally bows* As you wish, my Ice Queen.**__' _

As he sat down on his seat he got her reply.

'_**Huh, I could get used to that. Maybe I'll have you be my "loyal vassal" during school haha :)**__'_

'_**Maybe, if some sort of payment **__***cough*food*cough* was in order, then just maybe I would. Anyways, we are starting, so I'll talk to you in a bit.**__'_

'_**Alright, bye, vassal :P**__'_

With a smile plastered to his face, Natsu picked up his guitar and started to practice with Gray.

An hour and forty-five minutes later, the elevator door to the garage opened again. Gray stumbled out, gagging with tears in his eyes.

"Dear God! What the hell did you eat?!" Was all he managed to choke out as he was bent over, gasping for air. Natsu walked out, rolling his eyes.

"It wasn't THAT bad, stop over-reacting."

Gray's eyes widened and he shot Natsu a glare. "Over-reacting?! How about I let out a fart in a small confined space, one that smells like an animal that died a month ago and was rotting!"

Natsu just continued to walk past Gray, ignoring him. Gray glared at his back as he walked away, but decided not to do anything just yet, he would get revenge on Natsu when he was least expecting it. Gray started to walk after Natsu, smiling evilly as he plotted what to do, but stopped when he noticed Natsu wasn't walking towards the car.

"Where are you going?"

Natsu held up his right hand, which had a set of keys in them. "I left my bike here last time, so I thought I would drive it to Erza's. Was planning on taking it home anyways."

Gray shrugged his shoulders, and walked to the car. "Don't forget, safety first!" Natsu stopped and whipped around to look at Gray. He was immediately suspicious, since it wasn't every day that Gray would say something like that. As Natsu caught the look on Gray's face as he closed the door, he knew that Gray was also talking about something else.

"You bastard! I thought I told you it's just a study session!"

Since Gray had rolled down the window, Natsu heard him laughing as he pulled away, driving out of the parking garage. Natsu sighed in defeat as he starting walking towards his bike again. The bike he rode was a BMW 2012 S1000RR, and he was rather proud of it.

He got on, and started it up with the engine growling as it came to life. The bike growled some more as he revved the engines a little, smiling at the sound. Out of his favorite things to drive, his bike was by far the best one out of them all.

Natsu took a piece of paper out of his jacket pocket, reading the directions to Erza's house again, memorizing them. Having the direction fresh in his mind, Natsu picked the helmet off of the handlebars, and put it on. Flipping the visor down, he drove out of the parking garage towards Erza's house.

After around a quarter of an hour of driving, he pulled up into Erza's driveway. He parked the bike, turned it off and took his helmet off. Running his hand through his hair, he started to walk towards the front door. He walked up to it, and rang the doorbell. The traditional _Ding, dong _rang through out the house, and he stood there with his right hand in his pocket, and his left hand hanging onto the helmet.

A few moments later the door opened, and an older man, her Dad most likely, was standing there. His eyes went to the helmet, than traveled to Natsu's bike, which was parked in the driveway. His eyes returned to Natsu's face, and an eyebrow rose as he looked at him. "And you are?"

Natsu flashed a bright smile, his "celebrity smile", and held out a hand. "Natsu Dragneel, sir, I'm here to study with your daughter for school." Erza's dad's eyes flashed in recognition. He shook Natsu's hand. "Ah yes, Erza mentioned you were coming." He then turned around "Erza! Your friend is here!" Natsu heard a "Coming!" yelled in reply.

He turned back Natsu, and looked at the bike. "Is that a BMW 2012 S1000RR?" Natsu smiled a genuine smile, and looked back at the bike proudly. "Yes sir bought it myself a few month's back. Haven't regretted it since."

Erza's dad's eyebrow rose again. "You bought it yourself?"

Natsu looked back at her dad, and rubbed a hand behind his head, a bit embarrassed. "Ah yeah, me and my brother started a band, and we have been doing pretty good. My dad and mother have always preached that we needed to earn our own money, to know how the real world was, and didn't spoil us. So we have bought all of the things we use for our own entertainment by ourselves, with the money we got from the band we made."

Her dad nodded his head in agreement. "That's the same thing I taught Erza, I like the way your dad thinks." Natsu laughed.

"I have a feeling that you too would get along perfectly." As Natsu and her dad heard the sound of footsteps on the stairs, they both looked back towards the sound, seeing that Erza was walking down in a tank top and sweats. Although it was plain clothes, Natsu was a little taken back at how good she looked. Her dad looked back at Natsu.

"I'll leave you two to your studying. It was nice to meet you son." He shook Natsu's hand again, and walked off towards the living room. Erza was giving Natsu weird look, and Natsu tilted his head. "What?"

"My dad doesn't usually take a likening to people right away, takes a while to gain that from him. I can tell that he really likes you though, which is unusual. What did you talk to him about?"

"He just asked me about my bike, and then I told him how I paid for it from the money me and Gray make with the band."

Erza nodded her head in sudden understanding. "Ah, that's most likely it. You just hit two of his favorite things he likes to talk about. Motorcycles and making it on your own."

Natsu grinned. "Or, you know, it could just be because I'm just such a likable guy. I've heard it has to do with my handsome looks and charming personality"

Erza just rolled her eyes and turned around, walking back the stairs. "Come on, _vassal_, my room is this way."

Natsu's froze and his face turned a little red. "Your room?" He could have sworn that his voice squeaked a little, so he coughed into his fist. Erza glanced back at him with a questioning look. "Yeah, is that a problem?"

Natsu coughed again and tried to mentally clear his face of the growing redness. "Well, I just thought we would study in the living room or something."

"The football game is on, so we can't study there." She turned back around and continued up the stairs. "Anyways, all the stuff is already set up in my room." Natsu took a deep breath, and followed her up the stairs.

He followed her into the room, and stopped once he saw the room. He stood there with a stunned and surprised expression on his face, and Erza was looking at him with anger, embarrassment, and confusion on her face. "What are you so surprised about?"

Natsu looked around for a few more seconds, taking in what the room was like. He then looked back at Erza. "I…uh…well, it's just not what I'd expected from the "Daemon President"." He saw her expression getting harder, and he quickly clarified. "Not that I have a problem with it, just…. Surprised."

The room was just like any other teenage girls room, which is what surprised him. It had a light green color, with pictures all around on the walls. She had all the accessories any other teenage female would have, such as make-up table and such. The reason he was so surprised was because subconsciously he had thought Erza's room would be plain, with a dark color as paint. Something that would fit the "Daemon President" persona that she gave off at school and around strangers.

She huffed playfully and held her chin up, taking a pose of indignity "And why would you think that?"

Natsu laughed "I guess even the Ice Queen can have a personality too, even if it is surprising." Erza smiled and hit him on the shoulder, a little harder then necessary, and walked over to her bed, which had the Economics textbook and tons of papers spread out across it. Natsu followed after her, and picked up the Economics textbook.

"So, its chapter 5 that he's testing us on, right?" Erza nodded, and picked up some of the homework that their teacher had assigned. She shuffled through the stack, and picked out the ones that had to do with the test. Natsu did the same, and soon they had all the papers relating to the test spread out on the floor, both of them sitting side by side with the papers in front of them.

Natsu placed the Economics textbook in front of both of them, and they began their study session. They started off with looking through the papers and textbook; reading and making sure they knew what was being tested on. While they were both focused intently on the work, not really talking, Natsu was knocked out of that concentration a few times. The first time was when Erza reached across him for a paper, and she brushed up against him.

He was immediately brought out of his concentration, and blushed as he felt her shoulder on his arm and her breasts on his leg. She grabbed the paper and straightened back up, and luckily for Natsu, didn't notice his reaction. He quickly focused his attention back onto the papers, trying to focus again, but he wasn't able to for a few minutes.

The second time was when they both reached for the textbook, and he ended up grabbing her hand. This time they both were fully aware of it, and they stared at each other for a few seconds. Natsu's face grew beat red, and quickly withdrew his hand and looked away. But before he looked away, he had noticed Erza's face also grow red and she looked a bit flustered, which Natsu was a little surprised about. _'Does she also?... Nah…. Must have been my imagination…' _

As Natsu looked back though, he could have sworn that she still looked a little bit flustered, but quickly forgot about it as they went back to studying. After an hour or so of studying, there was a knock on the door. They both looked up to see Erza's mother at the door, with what looked like a knowing smile on her face. "Dinner's ready, I made extra for you Natsu, so feel free to eat with us."

Natsu was suspicious at why her mom had that look, but quickly forgot about it at the mention of food. He nodded eagerly, and her mom smiled as she walked back down stairs to the kitchen. Natsu got up, while turning around and helping Erza up. He then walked to the door and bowed with a mocking smile on his face. "Dinner awaits, my Queen."

Erza laughed and walked through the door, heading towards the kitchen. Natsu followed after her, and sat down at the seat next across from her when they arrived at the kitchen. Her father was already sitting there, and nodded towards Natsu. Natsu nodded back, and looked at her mom with eager eyes as she brought the food in.

With the last dish set on the table, her mom also sat down. "Feel free to dig in." Natsu didn't have to be told twice, and he started to place food on his plate. He passed the food clockwise, towards Erza's mom, and starting eating once everyone had food on his or her plate.

During the meal, the atmosphere was a very nice and relaxing one to Natsu. Natsu and Erza's dad talked about motorcycles, and which ones they had. Erza's dad had a Harley, and Natsu and him talked about the specs and the mods they were thinking of adding to their bikes.

Erza and her mom were talking about their cousins, and how their 10-month-old cousin had started walking, and how the family was really excited about that. The talk around the table was relaxed, and near the end of the dinner, the one on one talking had ended, turning into relaxed small talk of everyone talking to each other.

At the end of dinner, Natsu sat back in his chair and sighed contently. "Thank you for the meal, Mrs. Scarlet, it was delicious."

Erza's mom smiled in return. "Was my pleasure to feed such a nice mannered young man. Hard to find young men with nice manners in this time and age." Natsu had a feeling that the last part wasn't really directed towards him, but laughed a little embarrassed anyways.

"You can thank my dad and mom for that, they were very adamant about me and my brother learning our manners."

She looked over to her husband. "Well, maybe we should have them over for dinner to thank them."

Her husband nodded. "I wouldn't mind."

Natsu nodded. "I'll tell them when I get home, I'm sure they will be happy to agree."

The parents nodded, and Erza stood up. "Well we should get the dishes done, and head back up to my room to do some more studying."

Her mom stood up and shook her head. "No need to help with dishes, I've got it covered. You just go up there and study some more, wouldn't want to lower your test grade because of some silly dishes." Erza smiled and nodded her thanks, and lead the way towards the room. Natsu said his thanks to both of them once more before he followed after Erza.

As they walked into her room again, Natsu noticed that her closet door was open a little. As he looked more closely at the opening, he could swear that he saw his own face. He walked towards it, and Erza looked back at him. If he had been looking at her, he would have seen her face grow really red, really fast. She took a step towards him to stop him, but it was to no avail. With a curious expression on his face, and an embarrassed expression on hers, Natsu opened the door.

What he was presented with was a lot of pictures with his face. He stared surprised, wondering what the hell his face was doing in there, and then he saw Gray's face also in the closet. That's when it hit him like a freight train. These were posters, Ice Cold Dragon posters, and there were a lot of them.

He slowly looked around, and saw what he didn't notice at first about the room. There were spaces that could fit a poster that were empty, and looked a little out of place now that he looked more closely at it. He looked at Erza, and was met with her embarrassed face.

"So…"

Erza looked away, and started wringing her hands together. After a few seconds, she turned around with a determined expression on her face. "You know what, screw it, doesn't matter anymore. Yes, I am a huge fan of your band. Yes, I have a lot of Ice Cold Dragon posters. Yes, I have all of your albums. Yes, I'm as much of a fan as those girls at school. Is that a problem?" She said the last bit with a glare set on Natsu, daring him to say it was.

Natsu just continued to stare at her as he collected his thoughts. "Well… no that isn't a problem. It's just… a little bit of a shock. Not what I expected. You didn't really give any reaction when you first met us or since then, so I just kind of thought that you didn't really know of us, or that you didn't really like our music."

Erza looked to the side, still embarrassed. "Well I do…" Natsu smiled at how cute she looked when she was embarrassed, and Erza narrowed her eyes. "What's so funny?" Her tone had an edge to it, but Natsu kept his smile on.

"Oh nothing, just funny how my two most surprising moments in my life have happened today. You're a normal teenage girl, and your obsessed with me and Gray." Erza tried to keep her anger up at Natsu, but slowly smiled and laughed. "I wouldn't go as far as obsessed, but yeah. Surprise surprise, I'm a normal person." With that she stuck her tongue out at Natsu and walked back towards where they sat before.

Natsu followed and sat down next to her, still chuckling a little. They got right back into studying, but this time they quizzed each other on the materials. After a while they felt like they knew the material well enough, and settled into just talking.

The student council had gotten some new members, so Erza, Lucy, and Juvia were testing them out, making them do more work then usual to see if they actually wanted to be in there. They had handled the work well for the first day, and she had high hopes and a good feeling that they were going to do well.

Natsu started talking about how grueling their first practice was, but that he also enjoyed it. He knew the other guys were complaining too, but he also knew they all liked how difficult the new coach was making it. They liked the challenge, and they also wanted to be the best basketball team this year.

They talked like this for a while, and then they both noticed the other yawning. Natsu glanced at the clock on his phone, and his eyes widened. "Ten-thirty? Wow, time flew by." Erza's eyes also widened in shock as she also looked at the time.

Natsu stood up. "I think I should get going now, don't want my parents and my idiot of a brother worrying about me." Erza also stood up.

"Yeah, plus it's a school night. Wouldn't want to be dead tired for school." Natsu lead the way downstairs, and walked into the living room to say good-bye to her parents. They were sitting on the couch watching T.V., and stood up when Natsu and Erza walked in. Natsu went up to her dad first.

"Thank you for letting me stay over, Mr. and Mrs. Scarlet. I enjoyed it, and the dinner was delicious." He shook the dad's hand, and would have shook the mom's hand, but she pulled him into a hug. He froze for a second, but returned the hug. His mom pulled away and smiled.

"Your welcome to come by anytime." Her dad nodded in agreement, and Natsu smiled back.

"Thank you! I'll remember to tell my parents about meeting up. Thanks again!" He said the last part while backing towards the front door, and Erza's parents smiled again and waved goodbye. Erza walked him to the door. He picked up his helmet, which was lying next to the front door, and opened the front door. He turned back towards Erza.

He rubbed the back of his head with a smile. "Was fun, we should definitely hang out again some time soon."

Erza smiled "Yeah, definitely. See you at school tomorrow." After what seemed to be a moment's hesitation, she stepped forward and hugged Natsu. Natsu stood in place from shock for a second, but quickly regained control of himself and hugged her back. The hug lasted for a few seconds, Natsu was starting to sweat a bit, and they broke apart.

Erza was looking away after, looking a bit embarrassed from what she did. Natsu smiled and waved goodbye. "Yeah, see ya tomorrow." Erza looked back at him with a small smile as he walked away.

Natsu put the helmet on, and turned the bike's engine on. He backed out of the driveway, and starting driving back towards his home. As he passed the front of the house, he waved his goodbye again to Erza, who was still standing in the front door. She waved back and closed the door, and Natsu looked forward as he drove off. All the way home, he had a smile planted on his face.

**And that's the end of chapter 5. I have to say, I'm really proud of this chapter. It's my longest one yet, and I finally got to kindle the relationship between Natsu and Erza! Hopefully you guys enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it! **

**Also, the song in this chapter is S.C.A.V.A by **_**Hollywood Undead**_**, it's a really good song that I recently heard, and I can't stop listening to it. I've had it on repeat whenever I was writing this, and I'm still not getting sick of it haha. That's the main reason why I added the song part into the chapter to tell the truth. **

**Anyways, I've been thinking about writing a one-shot with Natsu and Erza, with the two of them being married. Maybe a kid, but I still haven't thought up that much of the plot, just the beginning and a few of the details. So yeah, I might take a week break from this and write that. If you don't get an update on this story next week, that's most likely what's happening.**

**And as I've said before, thanks for the reviews! I really appreciate them! Also I forgot to put this in my other author notes, but sorry NxE Forever about getting your gender wrong. I tried looking on your profile, but was saddened when I was told that I was a perv. I was then forced to guess. So again, sorry about that. I'll dedicate this chapter to ya, hopefully that will suffice. :P**

**Peace,**

**-Infallible**


	6. Taking the Leap

**Flames and Steel**

Natsu was walking on the sidewalk, heading for somewhere. Although, he didn't exactly know where, but not knowing where didn't really bother him. He felt that everything was fine, and that there was no reason for him to know where he was heading.

He stopped at a crosswalk, and waited for the traffic to stop so he could cross. When the traffic stooped, and the sign started to flash that he was safe to cross, he took a step off the crosswalk and onto the street. That was when shit hit the fan. In the blink of an eye, the whole world was turned upside down. Everything started shaking, the buildings around him started the crumble and fall down.

He franticly looked around, trying to figure out what the hell was happening. '_An earthquake? But we've never had an earthquake here before, why the hell is it happening now?_' He looked around, still confused, and saw people running around in terror, trying to escape the debris of falling chunks of stone. Trying to get to some place of safety.

He tried to follow after them, but found out that he couldn't move. He quickly looked down at him self to see what was wrong, but everything looked normal. This didn't make sense, why the hell couldn't he move? He sat there, focusing all of his mind power on trying his hardest to move, and his muscles finally started to obey him.

The only problem with this was that he felt sluggish, that no matter how hard he tried; he couldn't stop running in slow motion. He started to feel the fear, and uncontrollable, animalistic fear beginning to bubble up inside him. He was now trying his hardest to flee, away from the danger and towards some sort of safety, letting the human instinct of fight or flight take him over. His body was not responding to him, even though he was trying his hardest to move.

The ground continued to rumble, but he felt the shaking of the ground increase right below him. He looked down with fear in his eyes, as a hole opened up right below him. He tried to reach for the edge; to save him self, but it was no use. With a shout of terror he fell down the hole, and into the black depths.

Natsu could feel himself falling, but it was pitch black so he couldn't see where he was falling. All he knew was that he felt light, and he could feel the uncontrollable terror and fear building up inside of him as he fell into the unknown. He kicked and flailed his arms, trying to grab on to something, anything that would save him. Just as he was about to give up hope, he saw a bright light above him.

"Natsu."

He saw a hand reach out of the light for him, a lifeline in this ocean of terror, and he reached for it. Natsu felt that the voice was vaguely familiar, and reached out for the hand. The first try his fingers brushed the hands, but with a shout he reached out for the hand again. This time he was successful, and he grabbed hold of the hand. The last thing he saw before he went into the light was scarlet hair and a warm, gentle smile.

Natsu bolted upright in his bed, panting and sweating. He quickly patted himself down while looking around, confirming that he was actually still in his room safe and sound. He fell back down onto his back with a sigh of relief. '_It was just a nightmare. Thank god, it didn't really happen._'

All he could remember was that the world had shook, and he had fallen somewhere, and the color scarlet. He laid his hand across his forehead, remembering how warm the color of scarlet had felt. With a smile, he fell back asleep, this time with his dreams full of warmth.

Gray looked over at Natsu as they were walking from the car to the school, a curious look on his face. "What's got you in such a good mood?"

It had been two weeks since the first time Natsu and Erza had studied together, but Natsu was still remembering it like it was yesterday. Ever since then, they have hung out together more and more, sometimes studying at Erza's house again, or going out and just hanging out.

Natsu was walking with a small smile on his face, the dream he had after the nightmare last night the reason why he was smiling and happy. While someone who didn't know Natsu as well as his friends did wouldn't see it, Gray could tell that Natsu was practically bubbling with happiness. The way he was walking, the slight change in attitude then normal, and some other things were all clearly stating to Gray about Natsu's state of mind.

Natsu quickly tried to hide it, his small smile receding, and his tone was defensive when he replied. "I'm in the same mood as I always am. How about you mind your own business."

Gray snorted and shook his head, deciding to keep silent instead of starting up an argument right before school started. Although he had a feeling of what it was that had him in such high spirits, he would observe some more before he knew for sure. As they rounded the corner, the person who he had a feeling was the reason was standing right there talking with Juvia, with her back facing them.

Gray looked at Natsu from the corner of his eye, gauging his reaction. Natsu's reaction made him go from eighty-five percent sure to about ninety-nine percent sure that Erza was the reason. Natsu's face brightened up like the sun at the sight of her, and his smile came back, but this time bigger than before.

Since Juvia was the one facing them, she saw both Natsu and Gray and waved at them with a smile. Gray waved back, but Natsu was too busy looking at Erza to notice the wave. Gray hid a smirk as Natsu made a beeline towards Erza, who had turned around to see what Juvia was waving at.

Gray watched Erza closely for her reaction at the sight of Natsu, and what he saw did not surprise him at all. Erza's face also brightened up like the forth of July at the sight of Natsu, and she gained a big smile on her face. Both of their reactions was enough to tell Gray what he needed to know, and he was quietly gloating about his observing skills on the inside as they walked up to the girls.

Natsu walked up to Erza and started to talk to her with a relaxed and content look. Gray walked up to Juvia, and whispered to her "Look at the two lovebirds_._" Juvia raised an eyebrow and looked over at Natsu and Erza.

She had known that Natsu and Erza had become close, but was confused at the reason why Gray said lovebirds. She hadn't really been paying close to them and their relationship. She blushed at the thought of why she wasn't, stealing a quick glance at Gray.

But as she looked closely at Natsu and Erza, since she knew the both of them as close friends, their body language made it look like there was a huge neon sign above them that said "**THESE TWO LIKE EACH OTHER!**"

Erza was listening intently to whatever Natsu was saying, and laughed as he finished. From an outsider, it would just look like two close friends talking. But to Gray and Juvia, they could see the small quirks and things that they were doing that was saying that it was deeper than that.

As they started walking, both Gray and Juvia noticed that Natsu was standing closer to Erza then normal friends would, their shoulders were practically touching, which wouldn't seem like anything by itself. Add that together with the other things that they were doing, and it would turn into a whole different story. Both Erza and Natsu had on content smiles; they both listened intently to what the other was saying, always with a smile on their faces.

Gray and Juvia could also tell that Natsu and Erza were touching each other a lot, as in small brushes of the hands and shoulders. Erza smacking Natsu arm in playful annoyance and playful anger, Natsu brushing his hand against her arm, and this added to what Gray and Juvia (who was thinking back and seeing them) had noticed about their attitudes with each other earlier had both Gray and Juvia sure that the two had deeper feeling then just friends.

Juvia smiled softly at Gray. "Juvia believes that Gray is right." Gray at first had been unused to Juvia's talking in third person, but had slowly gotten used to it. At this point, he would have thought it weird or that something was wrong with her if Juvia did not talk in third person. As Gray got to know her better, he started to feel like he was growing to like Juvia as more then a friend.

Gray smirked, a smug look on his face. "Of course I'm right!" Juvia giggled, and Gray had to cough into his fist to hide his blush. '_She's so cute…' _If Gray were to be honest with him self, he knew that he did indeed like Juvia as more then a friend. The only reason as to why he avoided it, or doubted himself, was the fear that she did not have the same feelings as him, and that she would reject him.

That one fear was what was keeping him back. As he listened to Juvia go on about some celebrity relationships, he had a brief insight. He remembered what Igneel had told him before about a crush he had as a kid.

'_If you stand by and do nothing, then nothing will happen. However, if you take action, you have a chance to make something happen. Sure, she might reject you, but that's a part of life. But there is always that chance that she has the same feelings as you, but is also just too scared to say anything about them. That's your duty as the man, you must take the big leap of finding out if the feelings are the same or different._'

Gray smiled faintly at the memory, and than steeled him self, knowing what he had to do. He had to take the proverbial leap, and see if the feelings were the same or not. As Juvia finished her talk about the celebrity couple, he went for it.

With a deep breath, he asked the question. "Juvia, would you… do you want to hang out next Friday? Maybe go to the movie or dinner or something…." He trailed off, and looked to the side. His heart was beating so fast, he thought it was going to explode.

If she accepted, then during that date on Friday, he would be sure to see if their feeling were the same. If she didn't, than he would find some other way to find out.

Juvia on the other hand had come to a dead stop. Her eyes were wide open, in shock of what Gray had asked. '_Did Gray just… did Gray just ask Juvia… on a date?!_' She felt like her face was on fire, the red spreading across her face. When she noticed Gray starting off to the side, looking embarrassed, she knew that this was her chance. It could be that he was embarrassed because it sounded like a date, and he just wanted to hang out. Or it could be that he was embarrassed because he was asking her for a date.

So with this in mind, she calmed herself down with a deep breath, and put a smile on her face. "Juvia is okay with this. What time is Gray going to pick Juvia up?" She would go to this and find out which one of the two Gray wanted. If he wanted to be just friends, she would accept that with a smile on her face, even though she wouldn't get to be with him, she would be able to be by him until he hopefully grew feelings for her. If he wanted to be more than friends with her, she would gladly and happily accept that.

Gray quickly looked at her, and saw the smile on her face. He processed her words, that she had accepted, and he gained a smile. "I'm free all of Friday, so how about around four-thirty to five?"

Juvia smiled and nodded. "Juvia thinks that this sounds wonderful."

Gray smiled and they continued on walking, heading towards their classroom. Natsu and Erza were nowhere to be found, so Gray assumed that they hadn't even noticed that Gray and Juvia had stopped and went on ahead to their classroom.

Meanwhile Natsu and Erza had just looked behind them, and noticed that Gray and Juvia weren't behind them. They looked at each other, than shrugged and continued towards first period, talking about how bad of a rapper Lil' Wayne was.

Later that day, as Gray and Natsu left the locker room after practice, sweating like usual, Natsu decided to ask where Gray was that morning. "So, where did you and Juvia disappear to?"

Gray smiled a little bit as he thought of that morning. "I asked if Juvia wanted to hang out with me this Friday, and she agreed to it." Natsu smirked at this, and thought this was a perfect opportunity to get back at Gray.

"So, a _**date.**_"

"Hopefully."

Natsu stopped dead in his tracks. He had been joking when he said date, trying to get Gray embarrassed, but Gray's reply hit him like a sucker punch. He stared at Gray. "What do you mean hopefully?"

Gray just looked back at him with an amused expression. "What the hell else does 'hopefully' mean? I'll say it again then. Hopefully, Friday will be a date." Gray continued on towards the car, with Natsu just staring at his back, still shocked into stillness. With a shake of his head to clear his thoughts, he jogged to catch up to Gray, who was halfway to the car.

"So… does that mean you like Juvia? And as in girlfriend status, not friend status." Gray shrugged and looked out the window.

"Truthfully? Yes. I do like her as more than a friend, but I don't know if she returns that feeling. So that's what this is about. If she returns my feeling, then I will have a girlfriend at the end of Friday. If she doesn't, then I'll have a really good friend at the end of Friday. That's why I said hopefully." Natsu got in the drivers seat, thinking this over. As Gray got into the passengers seat, Natsu grinned and held out his fist.

"Well then, good luck man. Hopefully everything turns out good." Gray smiled in return, bumping fist with Natsu. "Thanks. I do too, bro, I do too." Gray then looked at Natsu with sly grin. "So what about you and Erza? Made your move yet?"

Natsu's hand jerked, causing him to miss the ignition with the keys. He tried his best to hide it, but completely failed when he stuttered, "W-w-what the hell does that mean?" To say he was surprised was an understatement. He was caught completely off guard by Gray's question; therefore he couldn't come up with a reasonable response.

Gray laughed at Natsu's reaction. '_Ah, the sweet, sweet taste of revenge_ ' Gray thought with a smile. "It means what I said, did you make your move yet?"

Natsu quickly recovered and sent a glare in Gray's direction. "I don't know what your talking about, me and her are just friends. You hear me? Friends." Gray opened his mouth to say something, but than decided against it. He would just have to let Natsu do what he needed to do at his own pace.

Gray knew that what was holding Natsu back was what was holding him self-back before, the fear of rejection. Its what almost everyone fears, and Natsu just had to find the guts inside of him self and take the leap, like how Gray was going to do. All Gray could do to help was give Natsu a push in the right direction.

"There's something that dad told me before. He said if you don't do anything to change the relationship, then nothings going to happen. You have to make the first move, to take the hit and see if the other person feels the same. It will be fine for you though when you take that first step, because I know for a fact she has deeper feeling than just friends for you."

Natsu was looking out the window with a bored expression, but he was in reality listening very intently to what Gray was saying. '_That makes sense, but I need to make sure that Erza feels the same myself. I can't be sure if its coming from someone else._'

They drove the way home silent, Natsu thinking hard on what to do, and Gray was letting Natsu think. By the time they got home, Natsu knew what he was going to do. While Gray was taking his chance with Juvia, Natsu would also take his chance with Erza on Friday.

_Friday_

Natsu and Gray stood a foot away from each other, waiting for Brad to throw the ball in the air. With their first game being next week, the coach wanted them to practice playing an actual game, so he had started finishing practices with a scrimmage. This time though, Brad decided to dedicate the whole practice to a game, which had caused an excitement in both the team and the school.

Brad had made Natsu the captain of team one, and Gray the captain of team two. He had then split the team up into two teams, making it as even as he could. Brad put Jason, Max, Loke, and Droy on Natsu's team. He put Jet (who got that nickname because of his speed), Alzack, Tyson, and Brett onto Gray's team. The rest sat out and waited to be subbed back in.

Although it was only a scrimmage game, a lot of the students had showed up to watch, packing the stands, which caused some people to have to stand in order to watch the scrimmage.

The reason for so many people showing up was that everyone had heard that the basketball team this year was actually good, and they all wanted to see for themselves. Natsu and Gray had been able to save some seats in the middle of the first level in the stands for Erza, Lucy and Juvia.

The whistle blew, and both Gray and Natsu burst into action, jumping into the air for the ball. Natsu got to it first, knocking it back to Loke and getting the game started. Loke dribbled the ball down the court, passing it to Droy for the lay up once he got to the three-point line. Natsu's team ran back down the court, high fiving Droy for the point. This continued on for the first twenty-four minutes, both teams playing hard until the buzzer went off signaling halftime.

The crowd had been cheering throughout the game and got even louder at the end of the second quarter. Since both teams were from their school, half of the stands rooted for Natsu's team while half rooted for Gray's team. Erza and Juvia had been in the middle, so the line was in between them, with Erza's side cheering for Natsu's team and Juvia's side cheering for Gray's side.

At first they had wondered how that worked out, but shrugged and moved over a seat, so both crowds weren't right next to each other.

The score of the game was fifty-two to forty-six, with Natsu's team in the lead. Both teams gathered around their captains, planning on what to do for the next two quarters.

Natsu looked at his team, his manner and attitude serious. "Alright, we have the lead for right now, but that could easily change. We have to keep up our game, even push harder. Don't go for the three-pointers unless you are sure you can make it. Lets stick to the nice and easy points, we need to make sure we get points after every time we pound down the court, alright?" They all nodded, panting and wiping the sweat from their eyes. Natsu's mouth broke from the serious thin line to a grin, and he put both his arms around the players next to him.

"Now lets get out there and kick their asses, so we can brag in the locker room." Jason, Max, Loke, and Droy broke out into smiles, letting out a "HELL YEAH!" in response.

Over at Gray's side, his speech was similar. "We may be down, but ill be damned if I let Natsu of all people beat me. So when we get back on that court, we work our asses off and score some points, and wipe those confident smirks right off their faces. Sound like a plan?"

He put his fist in the middle, and everyone stacked their fist on top. Jet looked around at everyone and grinned, answering for them. "Sounds like the best plan I've heard yet."

The whistle blew, and the players went back onto the court. Both teams looked ready to win, both of their captain's words rejuvenating them. Once again Gray and Natsu walked into the middle of the court, ready for the ball to be thrown in the air. As the whistle blew again and the ball was thrown into the air, both of them jumped for the ball. This time Gray got it, and everyone burst into action.

The points started to rack up, both teams playing to the best of their abilities. At the start of the fourth quarter, the score was eighty-six to eighty-four, Natsu's team still in the lead, but barely. With two minutes left, that was when everything got intense. The crowd was continuously cheering now, and the sound of their names being chanted granted everyone on the court newfound energy.

The game was tied; one hundred and two to one hundred and two, and neither team was going to back down. Brett had just scored the tying point, and their team was running back down the court. Natsu passed it into Max, their point man, and the clock started again, ticking to one minutes and fifty-nine seconds.

Natsu ran ahead of Max down the court, and everyone started to move. Max faked out Brett, and blew past him. Both Gray and Tyson closed in on him to block the shot, but as Max stopped and looked about to shoot, he quickly passed it to Jason in between Gray's legs. Jason grabbed the ball, and jumped up into the air, successfully dunking the ball.

Natsu's cheering side broke out into cheer, so loud that it seemed to shake the ground a little bit. Jason ran back, high fiving everyone, as they got ready for the counter. As Alzack brought the ball down as their point man, Natsu looked up at the clock. One minute and twenty-five seconds.

Natsu shouted. "Man on man, don't let them score!" His team immediately followed his directions, switching from zone to man on man. Alzack passed to Tyson, who went for the three-pointer, but hit the rim. As the ball bounced away, it flew towards where Natsu was guarding Gray. They both went for it, but with Gray reaching it first.

Using his momentum, he burst past Natsu, who was trying to regain his balance from the jump. He went up for the lay-up, but instead passed it behind Loke who had jumped up to block the lay-up. Alzack had broke through and caught the pass, going up for the two-pointer. As the shot went in, it was Grays' team's time to cheer. The ground shook a little again as the sound of the cheer echoed in the gym.

As Natsu grabbed the ball and walked out of bounds to pass it in he looked over to the crowd. His eyes immediately found Erza's, and they looked at each other for a second. Erza than smiled and gave him a thumbs up, giving him a silent _Good Luck!_ He smiled and returned the thumbs up, then turned back towards the court, wiping the sweat off of his forehead.

Natsu passed it to Max again, and made his way down the court. He glanced up at the time again, and shouted, "Lets move, we need to score!" when he noticed that there was only one minute left. Max double-timed it down the court behind Natsu, and they increased the pace of their moves and passes, increasing the pace of an already fast paced game.

Max stopped and passed it to Jason, who quickly passed it to Natsu, who also quickly passed it to Droy. They did this to try and make the defense mess up. Natsu heard Gray shout "Man on Man! Man on Man!" Even though they went to man on man, the opening showed up quickly, and Natsu took advantage of it as soon as he saw it.

He darted past Gray, and ran towards the basket, no one around him. Loke, who currently had the ball, immediately noticed Natsu and chucked it as hard and as fast as he could towards Natsu, who caught it and went up for a lay-up. As the ball went into the hoop, Erza and all of Natsu's team's cheer side stood up, cheering and clapping.

Gray's team hustled down the court, intent on not losing this game. Alzack brought down the ball, and quickly passed it to Gray. They did the same thing that Natsu's team did, trying to find the opening. Natsu and his team were playing man on man again, but the opening still came. Brett dashed past Loke, and Gray saw it. Gray went up for a shot, but as Natsu jumped to block he realized the fake. As the ball went past him and into Brett's hands, Natsu's eyes widened and he took a step towards Brett as he landed.

Natsu was too late though, and the ball went into the hoop again. The crowd cheered again, and Natsu hurried up as he looked at the clock. Six seconds. He passed it to Max, but Max was stopped as Brett had come up to block him. The seconds started clicking, and Natsu wildly waved his hands in Max's direction. Max saw him and threw the ball at him one handed. Natsu caught it, and quickly glanced at the clock. Two seconds left.

Time seemed to slow down, as he looked at the ball then the net. He realized that it would most likely not go in, but went for it anyways. With a jump, Natsu took the shot from half-court, time still slowed down for him. The crowd was silent, caught up in the moment, all eyes on the ball as it traveled towards the net.

With a _swoosh_, the ball went into the net. The buzzer went off marking the end of the game, and the crowd went crazy. At this point, both sides were cheering, because it was such a great game, with a fantastic ending. Loke, Droy, Jason, and Max ran up to Natsu, yelling in happiness and amazement at how he made that last shot. Natsu smiled and cheered with them, and smiled even greater when he looked at Gray and his team walking up to them with smiles on their faces.

Natsu walked towards Gray with his team behind him. As Natsu and Gray reached each other, shook hands and brought each other into a bro hug. They pulled away grinning like idiots. The rest of their teams were doing the same, shaking hands and talking about how good of a game it was.

Natsu and Gray looked at the crowd, who was still cheering. They saw Erza, Lucy, and Juvia standing their smiling, and they waved at them. The girls waved back, and then turned around as the people behind them started to talk to them.

Gray looked back at Natsu. "I got to say, I'm surprised you pulled that last point off, I thought for sure that was going to be a tie game."

Natsu grinned. "Yeah, I am a bit surprised myself on how that went in. But, dude, I got to say that it was a fantastic game. I don't think I have had a game as fun in awhile."

Gray grinned back. "I second that, with the skills both our teams have, we are going to dominate this year."

Natsu held his fist out for a bump. "Hell yeah we are. With the two of us leading the team, that is." Gray laughed and bumped Natsu's fist.

"Exactly. Although next scrimmage, I'm definitely going to win."

Natsu scoffed "Yeah, in your dreams man."

Gray opened his mouth to retort, but before they could continue Max appeared next to them, wrapping his arms around their shoulders. "Let's save to trash-talking for later. Coach wants us in the locker room." With that said Max walked off towards the locker room, most of the players following him.

Natsu and Gray both were about to follow after but stopped when Erza and Juvia walked up to them. Juvia and Gray walking off a bit so they could talk. Natsu looked behind Erza. "Where did Lucy go?"

Erza pointed towards the door. "She got a text from her mom, she had to leave." Natsu nodded. "Ah."

Natsu glanced at Gray and Juvia, remembering about their date. He looked back at Erza "Gray is going to be gone today with Juvia, so do you want to come to my house today to study?"

Erza smiled "Sure, although you're going to have to pick me up. My dads gone on a business trip and my mom is meeting with her friends for today, so she wont be able to drive me."

Natsu nodded. "Of course! I'll pick you up after I take my shower back home." Natsu looked over towards the locker room door, where Max was waving for him to hurry up. "The coach wants us in the locker room, so I'll text you when I leave for your house."

Erza nodded. "Okay, see you later." With a smile and wave Natsu started to walk towards the locker room, Gray catching up to him halfway there. Natsu glanced over at Gray. "At what time are you leaving to go hang out with Juvia?"

"Right after we get home and I can take a shower. I'm going to take the Porsche, that cool with you?"

Natsu shrugged his shoulders and opened the locker room door. "Fine by me, I'll probably drive my bike over to get Erza. We decided to hang at our house today and study."

Gray smirked "Yeah, "_study"._"

Ntsu looked over and glared at Gray, but didn't say anything as they joined the other players.

Brad was looking at everyone; a serious looks on his face. The players glanced at each other, wondering what was going on. Brad took a deep breath "I am…." He paused and everyone gulped, fearing the worse. His face than broke into a huge grin "absolutely thrilled by how you guys played! I mean, lets be real here, I don't see anyone beating us, much less even keeping pace with us. You can definitely quote me on this, this is the year that we kick everyone's asses and turn this basketball team around for the future!"

The players grinned at the coach than cheered, whooped, and whistled. They felt the same as the coach, and they were ready to start playing games and winning. Max stepped up " I think I speak for the whole team when I say that you are the reason for this. Thanks Coach!" Natsu, Gray and the others cheered some more.

Brad held up his hand "Don't thank me yet. We still have to win all our games and win the championship. With that said, hope you guys have a great weekend, and be ready for practice on Monday."

The team dispersed, going to their lockers in order to change. Gray and Natsu hurried up in changing, so that they could get home as fast as they could. Natsu put on his street clothes, but paused when he got to his shirt. With a shrug, he put the t-shirt in his backpack, sticking to just the tank top that he usually wore underneath his shirt due to the sweat and the heat outside.

They walked out of the locker room and towards the car. Natsu got into the drivers seat, with Gray getting in on the other side. Natsu backed up and put the car into gear, starting the drive back to their house.

When they got home, Natsu parked in the garage. They walked into the house, with Gray rushing towards the shower and Natsu going to the kitchen to get a snack.

Natsu walked into the kitchen to find his mom, Ur, cooking. Natsu walked up, his mouth watering at the smell. Ur looked over and laughed lightly at Natsu expression, bringing Natsu in for a hug, although she quickly pulled away as she felt the sweat on him. She crunched her nose up. "You should go take a shower."

Natsu broke out of his trance and walked to the cabinets to find a snack. "I wanted to get a snack before, I'm starving." As he pulled a box of cracker and cheese out, he glanced over at his mom. "Why are you cooking so early? Are we having an early dinner?"

Ur shook her head, focused on the cookbook next to her. "Nope, me and dad are going to a business dinner soon, so I thought I would cook something for you."

Natsu smiled "Thanks!" He put some cheese on a cracker and put it in his mouth. "Since Gray is going out tonight, I thought that Erza could come over tonight to study. Is that fine with you guys, or do you want us to go to the library instead since you are going out?"

Ur looked up at Natsu with a knowing smile. "So both of you have dates?"

Natsu blushed and looked away. "No mom, we are just friends that are studying."

Ur studied him for a second, giving a soft laugh as she looked back at what she was making. "If you say so. I'm fine with it, and I'm sure your dad would be fine with it. You should go ask him to be sure though."

Just then Igneel walked in. "Fine with what?"

Ur told him, and Igneel also gained a knowing smile. He walked up to Natsu and put him into a headlock, effectively giving him a noogie. "So the little man is finally growing up eh? Starting the new life with a girlfriend?"

Natsu struggled for a few second and broke free of the headlock, glaring at his dad. "No! We are just friends! Friends that are studying together."

Igneel laughed, and grabbed a cracker and some cheese, plopping it into his mouth. "Uh huh. I'll believe that the moment pigs can fly."

Ur turned off the stove, and put a lid on the pot. "Honey, stop teasing him." She looked at Natsu with that same knowing smile. "Even if you are right." Natsu opened his mouth, but was cut off as his mom continued on. "The soup is done, all you will need to do is heat it up. I made a lot of it, so there will be plenty for Erza when she comes over."

Natsu puffed his cheeks out, and looked to the side. He then gave a sigh of defeat. "Thanks mom. I'll ask her if she wants to stay over and eat."

Ur smiled "Your welcome." She then grabbed her husband's arm and started to drag him towards the kitchen door. "And now for you. We have to find you something nice to wear."

Igneel groaned as he dragged his feet. "There's still thirty minutes left until we have to leave! Can't I get dressed later?" Ur gave him a look that said he would change now, or he would feel pain. Igneel sighed and glanced back at Natsu. "I do have to warn you though, wait to marry. They get to be so bossy once you're married to them." Ur just hit him on the head as she dragged him through the door and up towards their room.

Natsu grinned at their antics. He could have sworn that they were just two teenagers and not his parents sometimes, but he still loved them both dearly. He continued to eat, grabbing a glass and filling it with water. A few minutes Gray walked in wearing a polo shirt and a nice pair of jeans, and went to the cabinets to rummage through them in order to find something to eat.

Natsu finished up and put the crackers away. "I'm going to go take a shower. Since you'll be gone by the time I'm out, good luck on your date." Gray snorted. "Yeah, good luck on yours too."

Natsu just let that slide, since no matter what he said they kept on calling it a date. He walked up the stairs and to his room, throwing his clothes off as he walked through his room towards the shower. He turned the shower on and put it so it would hot.

Natsu stood in the shower with his eyes closed, letting the warm water run down his body. He could feel the sweat and grime coming off his skin, and he could feel his muscles relaxing. He stood there for a few minutes, just soaking up the water letting his body relax. He then grabbed the body wash and began to clean himself off.

As he stepped out of the shower, wrapping a towel around his waist, he stood looking at himself in the mirror. He was solidly built, from both the martial arts training and the basketball training.

Both Natsu and Gray were black belts in Chinese Martial Arts. Ever since they were little, they had wanted to know how to defend themselves. Igneel had agreed, and had found someone through his business connections. While they were growing up, they were taught Chinese Martial Arts, they had just made black belt last year. Every now and then both Gray and Natsu fought against each other, keeping their skills honed.

Natsu grabbed another towel and rubbed his head, getting all the water out of his hair. He walked to his closet, throwing the towel he used to rub his head onto the bed. He opened his closet door, and started browsing through his clothes for something good to wear. He picked out a similar look to Gray's, a polo shirt and jeans, and laid the clothes over his chair.

He unwrapped the towel and wiped down the rest of his body, then began to put the clothes on. He grabbed his wallet and bikes keys, putting them in his pockets as he grabbed his phone and unlocked it. He sent a text to Erza.

"_**I'm about to drive over to your house, I'll be there in about 20 minutes.**_" He locked the phone and put it in his pocket, grabbing his bike backpack and walking down the stairs towards the garage. Natsu put his helmet on, and as he grabbed an extra one for Erza he felt his phone vibrate. He pulled it out his pocket and looked at her reply as he sat down onto his bike.

"_**Alright, see you then! :)" **_Natsu smiled and sent a smiley face back, then attached the extra helmet to his backpack and started up his bike. He pulled out of the garage and started down the driveway, heading towards Erza's house.

Gray and Juvia stopped at the first spot that they were going to hang out, the park. Gray got out and walked over to Juvia's door, opening it for her. Juvia smiled and stepped out of the car, grabbing her purse as she got out.

Juvia was wearing a nice summer dress, but she could have been wearing sweats and a baggy sweatshirt and Gray would have still thought that she looked stunning.

The walked over to a bench and sat down, looking out over the park. They started to talk about random things, like what new movies were coming out, and whatever came to mind. They just chatted, getting to know each other better. Gray smiled as he listened to Juvia talk about one of her favorite T.V. shows, NCIS, while he watched some kids playing on the grass, playing what looked like tag. '_I could get used to this._'

Gray noticed that Juvia had stopped talk, and he looked over at her. She was giving him a questioning look. "Juvia is curious as to what has made Gray happy."

Gray continued to smile her. "Nothing, just thinking that I could definitely get used to this." Juvia blushed and looked to the side. Gray glanced down at his phone to check the time, and saw that it was six o-clock.

He stood up and offered Juvia a hand. "Our reservations for dinner is in an hour, so we should get going." Juvia accepted the hand and stood up.

"That reminds Juvia! Gray never said were we are going." Gray smirked as he led the way towards the car.

"It's a surprise."

_While Gray is at the park_

Natsu stopped in front of Erza's house, turned his engine off, and pulled his phone out of his pocket.

"_**Here"**_

He took off his helmet and ran a hand through his hair. '_I should really get this trimmed sometime. Getting a bit long_' His attention was brought to the front door that had opened, with Erza walking out. She hugged her parents who were behind her to see her off, and started to walk towards him.

As she reached him, Natsu waved at her parents, who smiled and waved back. Erza looked at the bike. "I know you love to drive this, but shouldn't you have brought your car?"

Natsu shrugged. "It's a nice day out, perfect weather for riding bikes. Why, is there a problem?" Erza looked at the bike for a few seconds.

"Well, first off, there's not really any room. Also I don't have a helmet."

Natsu grinned as he pulled the helmet from his side, handing it to Erza. "There's your helmet, and for the room that's not a problem. You just sit on the back and hold…" He broke off for a second as he realized what she meant. He quickly continued on, trying to hide his embarrassment. "…on to me so you don't fall off"

Erza gained a red tint to her cheeks, but nodded. She put the helmet on, on got on the back of the bike. As her arms wrapped around his stomach, he could have sworn he died and went to heaven. Although he was a little embarrassed at being his close to her, he knew without a doubt that he definitely wouldn't mind being this close to her more often.

He started the bike up, and waved to her parents one more time before he drove forward, back toward his house. At the beginning they both were a little tense at being so close, but slowly relaxed and enjoyed the ride. Halfway through, he felt Erza rest her head against his back. Natsu smile grew, and stayed on his face the rest of the drive back.

When they got to his head, they walked into the house. As Erza walked in, she gawked as she looked around the house. Natsu was confused at her reaction at first, but quickly came to the realization. '_This is the first time she's been here._'

Erza continued looking around. "So big…" Natsu laughed and rubbed the back of his head. "Yeah, I guess." She gave him an incredulous look. Natsu laughed, and took a step forward and held an arm out, pointing towards the rest of the house.

"Would you like a tour, madam?" Erza laughed at his "butler" persona, but nodded. Natsu smiled and led the way through the house, showing her all the rooms. There was the library, a sound room dedicated to them practicing at home, all the rooms, the family room, living room, kitchen, and even their own gaming room.

As Erza stepped inside the gaming room, her eyes widened. The room was packed full of games, going from arcade games to the console games plugged into the flat screen TV. She looked at Natsu. "That's a lot of games you have." Natsu laughed and walked into the room.

"My mom likes to call this the man-cave, since some days my dad, me and Gray disappear in here for a few hours." Erza followed after him, looking at all the games.

"Why do you have so many?"

Natsu smiled fondly as he responded. "When my dad was growing up, arcade games where the things back then. When he got his money, he decided to collect old arcade games. He figured it would be cool having them, and it would be good for his kids."

Erza nodded in understanding. She looked around for a few more moments before Natsu brought back her attention. "So yeah, that's the house basically. We have a pool and stuff in the backyard, but we can check those out later."

"Were did you set up the stuff for studying?"

"My room."

They got to his room, and Erza picked up a math textbook. They focused on studying for a bit, but it slowly turned into them talking. Soon the books were all but forgotten as they sat around chatting. Natsu went to his desk and pulled out some cards.

"Do you know how to play poker?" Erza nodded her head, and Natsu sat back down and starting dealing. They sat around, playing poker and talking, the relaxed atmosphere comforting them both. After a while of this, Natsu glanced the clock on his nightstand.

After seeing what time it was, he stood up and offered a hand to Erza.

"It's almost seven. Care for some dinner?" Erza's stomach answered for her, grumbling in need for some food. They laughed as Natsu helped Erza up, and they walked down the stairs towards the kitchen.

"What's for dinner?"

Natsu opened the door for her. "My mom made us some soup before she left. I don't know what kind of soup it is though. All we need to do is heat it up."

Juvia gasped as they pulled up to the restaurant. "Here?! But Juvia has heard that this place is really fancy! Juvia is not dressed up for this!"

Gray waved his hand is dismissal. "Trust me, you look fantastic." Juvia nodded and blushed, trusting Gray's judgment. Gray led the way into the restaurant. They stepped into the restaurant, and Juvia started to feel the butterflies in her stomach.

She wasn't really nervous about being in the restaurant, but as they stepped in it started to sink in. She was on a date. A date with Gray none the less. As Gray walked up to the person at the front and told them of their reservation, Juvia looked around, holding her hands in front of her.

She looked back at the girl at the front. She had gained a knowing smile as Gray told her about their dinner reservations, and Juvia blushed as the girl led the way to their table.

"Your waiter's name is Loke, and he will be with you shortly. Have a nice date." She said as they sat down, with a smile directed more at Juvia then Gray with the last part. They both blushed slightly, but nodded their thanks.

As the girl walked away, Gray turned to Juvia. "She said Loke right?" Juvia nodded. Gray stared for a moment, then shrugged and started up a conversation with Juvia. A minute later, their waiter walked up. "Welcome, what can I get for yo-" He stopped as he saw the two people in front of him. "Gray? Juvia?"

Gray's head shot in his direction. "So it was you! How did you get a job working here?" Loke quickly recovered, and rubbed the back of his head. "My dad's the owner of the restaurant." After they nodded in understanding, he continued on. "Well with that little surprise done with, what are you guys doing here?" He gained a mischievous smile. "A date?"

The both blushed, yet again, but Gray quickly covered it up. '_Why the hell am I blushing so much? Get it together Gray.'_ "Actually, yes, a date." Loke's eyes widened a little, but quickly gained a smile. "Well then, congrats! What can I get for you two lovebirds?" Gray rolled his eyes at the word lovebirds, but ordered what he wanted for dinner and Juvia ordered what she wanted.

Loke nodded and walked away, giving Gray a thumb up when Juvia looked away. Gray rolled his eyes again, but nodded and returned his attention to Juvia. They went back to talking, just enjoying each other's presence while they waited for their dinner. Once their dinner came, they sat there in a comfortable silence, eating their dinner.

After their dinner, Gray paid the bill and they walked out, but not before Loke gave Gray another thumbs up. Gray opened the car door for Juvia, closing it as she got in and walked around to the drivers seat. He turned the car into reverse and pulled out of the parking lot, but not towards Juvia's house.

Juvia gave him a questioning look. "Juvia is curious as to were we are going?"

Gray gave her a smile. "I want to show you something, another surprise." '_This is it. Once we get there, its now or never._'

They drove for twenty more minutes, and Juvia was growing even more confused once they started to go up a mountain. Gray saw where the spot was, and turned the car onto a little dirt road, and parked, turning the car off. He got out of the car, and walked around the car to open Juvia's door. She accepted his hand and got out of the car.

"Where are we?"

Gray led the way forward. "You'll see."

They walked for a minute, and then the trees cleared up. What Juvia saw took her breath away. They were looking down at the city, and with all the lights contrasting to the stars in the sky was a breath taking sight. Gray grinned as he saw her reaction.

"Juvia is wondering how Gray found this spot." She said a little distracted, still looking at the sight before her.

Gray shrugged. "Natsu and I were driving around, and then stumbled across this. It involved some yelling, and chasing, but turned out good in the end." Juvia giggled at his little description, able to picture what had happened.

Juvia felt Gray gazing at her, and looked towards him, blushing a little at his look. Gray then looked out towards the city. "Juvia?"

"Yes?"

"Do like someone, as in more than a friend?"

Juvia blushed even more, and even considered lying and saying no as to no arouse suspicion towards her. She took a deep breath though, and answered with a hushed voice. "Yes" She replied honestly.

Gray's heart skipped a beat, but he knew he had to know at least a little more before he took the leap. He asked one more question. "Are you close to this person."

Juvia answered this one honestly too, although her heart was beating so fast and loud she could have sworn that Gray could hear it. "Not as close as Juvia wishes they were, but yes."

Gray stood silently for a few seconds, building up the confidence. With a deep breath, he turned to Juvia and grabbed her hands. He looked in her eyes, and saw something flicker in them. He could have sworn that he saw a flicker of hope in them, and with that in mind he asked the question. "Juvia Lockser, will you go out with me?"

Juvia stood there, shocked beyond belief. This is what she had always dreamed of, but never thought would happen. She thought for a moment that maybe she was in a dream, but quickly dismissed that idea. Gray was standing in front of her, holding her hands, and had just asked the question she had always wanted him to ask.

At the long pause from Juvia, Gray began to grow nervous. Was he wrong? Did she not actually like him as more then a friend? Did he just ruin his friendship with her? After what seemed like an eternity, with all those doubts building and gnawing at his mind, Gray started to open his mouth, to try and brush it off as a joke, to do something to try to save what he thought a ruined friendship.

Before he could say anything though, Juvia snapped out of her trance and her face broke out into a huge smile. "Yes! Of course Juvia will, Gray!" It was Gray's turn to be shocked, but that didn't last long, as overwhelming happiness swept over him. Gray brought Juvia into a kiss, who was a little shocked at first but quickly melted into his embrace.

It was then that Gray shared his first kiss with the girl he loved, and he hoped it would not be the last one they shared.

Natsu was slowly walking back upstairs, thoughts running through his brain at lightning speeds.

They had sat and ate dinner together, then going back up to Natsu's room after doing the dinner dishes. They had gone right back into talking, and just relaxing. Natsu had forgotten if he had closed the dishwasher, and excused himself as he went back down stairs to check.

As he was walking back up stairs, it hit him. The chance to make his move on Erza, to "take the leap" as Gray had previously stated, was now. He was going to go ask Erza out. This was the reason why he was walking up the stairs slowly. He was trying to build up the courage. As he reached the top of the staircase and walked to his bedroom door, he took a deep breath. '_Man up Natsu! It's just seven simple words! Stop being such a pus!_"

With that clear in his mind, he opened the door. Erza looked up at Natsu, but noticed that he was acting strangely. He looked nervous, but seemed to be walking with a purpose.

Natsu gulped, and took another deep breath. "Erza… Can I ask you a question?" His heart started to beat fast, and he tried to calm himself, but to no avail.

From his posture and the vibe she was getting from him, she sensed that this was something big. He was acting nervous and un-Natsu like, and had just asked if he could ask her a question, which he knew he always could. Her eyes widened a little as a thought formed in her mind. '_Is he going to?..." _

In her romance novels that she read (but told no one that she read), this was how the romantic scenes always started. Her heart started to beat a little faster, but she responded as best as she could without betraying her inner feelings. "Yeah, why?"

Natsu swallowed, but dredged forward. "Erza…" He took another breath. "Will you-" Just then his phone went off in his pocket, making both of them, who were caught up in the tense moment, to jump. Natsu quickly dug his hand into his pocket, looking at who was calling. It was Lucy.

He hit the answer button, and held it to his ear "Hello?"

"Natsu! Thank god you answered. Sorry to bug you this late, but what was the Math homework again?" Natsu felt an immense feeling of annoyance wash over him as she finished. He had been interrupted, right before he asked Erza the big question nonetheless! He mentally growled at Lucy and her forgetfulness, but answered her question.

"We didn't have any homework, just to study for the test on Monday."

"Oh really? Wow, my bad. Sorry for calling so late, but thanks! Well with that aside, what's up?"

"Uh Lucy, I'm a little busy. Can I talk to you later?"

"Oh, uh sorry! Alright, talk to you tomorrow!"

Natsu hung up and put the phone back in his pocket.

"Will I what?" Erza asked hesitantly, but secretly a little hopefully.

Natsu looked over at Erza, and all of the doubts and fears he had been previously having steam rolled into his mind. The doubts about whether she liked him or not, the fear of rejection, and the fear of ruining their friendship stopped him cold in his tracks.

All of these things hit him, and he knew he couldn't go through with the "leap". All of the confidence he had built up had been completely and utterly destroyed by Lucy's interruption. He rubbed the back of his head.

"Huh? Oh sorry, I forgot what I was going to ask. If I remember, I'll be sure to ask." He lied. Even though it hurt him to lie to her like that, he knew that there was not a chance that he could ask her out.

Erza nodded, but inside she was hit with disappointment. She had thought that maybe he was going to ask her the "question", but as it turned out he wasn't. She silently berated herself for getting her hopes up, and put a smile back on.

At first the talk was a little slow and Natsu tried to act preoccupied with a problem. Erza scooted over to help him out. The talk came back, and they went back to chatting and studying, the moment behind them.

As it got late, Natsu drove Erza back home and dropped her off, driving back to his house with a wave of goodbye to her and her parents as he passed by the front of their house. The drive back was a hard one for Natsu, because the whole time he was regretting, and hating him self, for not asking Erza.

He knew that it was his fault, which made it even worse for Natsu. As he lay down in bed, he stared up at the ceiling, thinking of what could have been. He drifted off to a restless sleep, his regret and anger at himself entering his sleep and ruining his dreams.

**(A/N) And boom, my new chapter! Got a little busy, so sorry for the late update. Hopefully the long chapter sufficiently makes up for it! :)**

**Also, I'm going to go on a two to three week break from updating. Notice how I said updating, not writing. With my making of my new story, I want to get ahead of my chapters in updating, with both stories. So I will spend the next two to three weeks relaxing and writing, and get three to four chapters ahead. So then even if I have a bad week, I don't have to force myself to write and give out a bad chapter, instead I can give you a chapter that I had previously wrote.**

**This doesn't mean I'm not accepting new ideas or fixes in my writing; I can go back and edit the chapters or add to them if the change isn't major. So keep the reviews coming, I accept all types of reviews with open arms!**

**Also, tell me if I got Juvia's speech correct. I was having a little trouble with that, and want to make sure to get it correct for the future.**

**-Infallible**


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